Mew Generations III: The Finale
by Kireina Maboroshi
Summary: The newborn 7th heir to the powers of Ichigo has been kidnapped. 17 years later, she is found. Raised by normal parents instead of by the elite former Mews, how will she restore the Ichigo lineage and save the world? AU & OC. Part 5 of the 5 Part Series.
1. Chapter 1

_**Chapter 1: A New Princess**_

The cries of the newborn echo through the halls of Mew Mansion, eliciting shouts of joy all over the planet. In every country, newscasters had been waiting as if it were the new year to be the first to announce the birth of the seventh generation future Mew Ichigo. Any channel one turned to that crisp autumn night sung the praises of the beautiful new 6 pound, 8 ounce life.

In northern master bedroom of Mew Mansion, the sixth generation Ichigo, Alyssa, and her Red Knight, Stephen, coo to their child, their faces brighter than the sun. It was their first child, and she had captivated their hearts from the moment they laid eyes on her.

The room was full of doctors and nurses and all the other sixth generation Mews were present, all excited to meet the future Ichigo who would be leading their own children.

Soon, one of the nurses brings over a cart with a baby bath, and Stephen carefully places the child inside, overflowing with pride as he cleans her up. After her bath, they place a diaper on her and wrap her in pre-warmed blankets.

"What will you name her?" Daphne, the sixth generation Mew Purin asks.

Without hesitation, Stephen responds, "Emiko."

"It means 'blessed and beautiful child'." Alyssa finishes.

That night, baby Emiko slept soundly in her new crib in her new pink room, just down the hall from her mom and dad.

But not all was calm. Outside, two guards lay dead, and inside, the shadows of eight figures were cast over the child.

Almost as quickly as he appeared, one of the figures reels and falls to the ground, then another. It takes the last six a second to figure out what was going on. There had been a rumor that the Mews each had an elite guard that would stay hidden and ensure their success. By the time they remembered this, a third and fourth had been slain.

Another quickly wraps the newborn in blankets and places her in a cloth bag. He reels back, passing the bag to another as he felt something sharp pierce his body.

The final three leap through the window just as The Red Knight and Mew Ichigo enter the room. Wings like dragons protrude through their clothes as they take flight over Mew Mansion.

Mew Ichigo screams, her voice ringing through the mansion, "EMIKO!"

The Red Knight orders everyone to pursue the kidnappers. Anyone with wings takes flight. Teleporters, Centaurs, ninjas, all types take to the ground, determined to bring back the newborn.

Behind him, Mew Ichigo, still weak from giving birth collapses. The Red Knight clutches her closely, kissing her forehead. She grasps his arm, weeping.

The three remaining kidnappers fly away from the mansion, but soon find themselves surrounded by legions of beings loyal to the Mews and Knights. A Griffin lands on one of the beings without the child, sending it soaring down to the ground, and Mew Minto herself shoots another with an arrow, effectively damaging its wing and sending it out of control. Only the one carrying Emiko remains.

Within seconds, he was surrounded. He pulls out a knife and holds it next to the bag, effectively stopping the pursuit. Cries from the little one ring out.

"Let her go!" an angelic form Retasu calls out, in position to strike.

He brings the bag in front of him, placing the little one between himself and Retasu's strike. He gently sways the bag back and forth. "Get back! All of ya! Lower your arms!"

They obey.

He grins as he flies toward the edge of the circle. Those there stand their ground.

"MOVE!" an angelic form Purple Knight orders reluctantly. They obey.

"And if I see even one of yas approachin' me, I'll cut her up nice and good!"

The kidnapper moves farther and farther until he is out of sight.

A mile away, he lands in a forest, clutching the crying child. Finally, he opens up the bag. Staring back at him was the newborn with whisps of dark brown hair and beautiful golden-tan skin. Her big brown eyes looked just like her mothers.

"Shhhh!" he admonishes. _Just a little while later, and you'll be at your new home... With the Mew Ichigo and her powers on our side, we'll finally win this war. Six generations we've waited for this!_

Up above he sees a white dragon fly above, no doubt searching for the missing heir.

He moves under a branch. _I told them not to pursue me!_

Behind him, he hears twigs snap. He takes a few steps forward, but stops when he realizes he hears them from that direction too. He sighs, then places the infant in the hollow of a tree, covering her with cloth to stifle her cries. He takes his knife in hand and heads out to prepare a sneak attack.

He never comes back.

Baby Emiko cries out.

Not far away, a man in his mid twenties hides behind a tree as he watches a figure with black wings like a attack a woman wearing armor. Her partner, a shapeshifter, changes from a human to a bear and kills it with one swipe. They kneel down to examine it as the man escapes.

_I didn't see anything! I don't know anything! I-_

He stops. A baby cry.

He follows the sound and finds it coming from a pile of linens. He removes them and stares for a second. Figuring it must be the child of the one who was killed, he reaches to pick her up, but jerks back.

_Cold! Oh you poor child!_

He reaches back and pulls the baby close to himself. He races into his home, and shuts the door behind him.

"Honey?" a woman's voice calls. "What's wrong?"

He turns around to face his wife who was helping their one-year old son onto his feet. The boy falls to the ground on his bum and laughs.

A baby's cry rings out from inside his coat. She gives him a look as he reveals the girl. Emiko and their son look at each other, both silent.

Several loud bangs ring out from the door. "OPEN UP!" a deep, feminine voice calls.

"It's the ones who killed her dad!" he whispers as he hands his wife the newborn. Seeing how quiet they both were, she scoops up her son in her free hand and places them on top of coats in the closet.

"Shh!" she says urgently.

Her husband opens the door.

"Have you seen a baby? A newborn?" the shapeshifter asks.

He shakes his head no.

The shapeshifter bombards his way slightly in, turning into a dog. "I smell baby products." he announces. Hearing this, the armored woman enters.

"We have a young son." the wife volunteers. "We still use baby products on him."

Again, they listen, but hear nothing. They look around and find the house perfectly in order. The two turn around and head out with a muffled "Thank you for your time."

After they leave, they quickly set to getting the newborn settled.

Within moments, they have their son's old crib set up again just a few feet away from his "big kid bed".

The woman cradles the little girl as her husband sits with their son on their lap.

"Did you happen to hear her name?" she asks.

"Unfortunately no," he responds. "Perhaps we should give her one."

"How about Erika?" she pipes up. "I've always loved the name Erika."

"I like it. Welcome to the family, Erika." he touches her tiny hand.

_**17 Years Later**_

"Hurry up!" Erika calls as she races out the door wearing the classic black skirt, white blouse, and blue blazer, bookbag in hand. Her long hair swishes back and forth in her ponytail. She opens the door of their red beater, gets in, and rolls down the window. "EVAN!"

"Coming!" Evan pants as he tries to pull down the legs of his pants so they don't look like they're flooding. He reaches the car and throws his stuff in the back seat.

"Lets move it! We've gotta pick up the girls!" Erika admonishes.

He gets in just as their mom opens the front door to waive.

"Bye, Mom!" they both call out as they exit the driveway. About 10 years ago, their father had died, so she became the main provider of the household.

Thirty minutes later, Erika was gasping for air as she entered her Government and Politics classroom, just as the bell rang.

"SAFE!" Brian calls out, laughing as he holds his hand up for a high five. Several other students follow suit. Erika walks in, high fiving the students, Evan behind her.

For a second, he just watches her. Somehow, everyone knew her. She wasn't dating anyone, but she was probably the most sought after girl at the school. In fact, on more than one occasion, people from the prestigious Mew Academy had asked her out. But, she always declined saying she was concentrating on other things. Which, she was, but she did have time for a relationship if she wanted one.

He feels a poke on his arm. "Helloooo. Isn't it too early for your goofy smile?" Bart smiles knowingly at him as Evan takes his seat in front of him. "Why don't you just ask her out?"

He turns around. "Wouldn't that be weird? I mean, she's my sister!"

"Three words. Not. By. Blood." he leans back in his chair. "Besides, haven't you put enough distance between you since you realized you liked her? She hasn't seen your room since it was covered in Thomas the Tank Engine!"

"Don't say that so loud!" he whispers, embarrassed.

Bart continues. "You've paid your dues, Man. You're more like housemates than siblings. That's all I'm sayin'."

Evan looks over at her, as usual, surrounded by people. He tightens the tape on his glasses. _Why would she ever be into me?_

"Sorry I'm late," their history teacher walks in carrying his roster and their text. "We all know that 17 years ago, the heir to the Mew Ichigo line was kidnapped, and she has not been located since..."

Erika leans on her hand. _Not this again... It has been this long, and this is still the most important political issue? Goodness... Who cares? The only neat thing she can do all the others can't is wield the Centaurian form... _She yawns.

"Erika, do you find something about this lesson boring?" the teacher asks, eyebrow raised.

She sits up, "Yeah. Actually, I do. I'm tired of talking about this long lost princess. I mean, I know she's their daughter and all, but is this really a political issue? Since her disappearance, they've had another daughter. Can't she just be the heir?"

The teacher approaches her, and stands above her. "No, she cannot! The Centaurian form is the only form that has been protecting life as we know it! If the other side gets their hands on the missing child, when the sixth generation Mew Ichigo perishes, we will have nothing that can defeat their leader."

"Why don't they just create another Mew Ichigo?"

"If it were that easy, we would have done it! This is basic, Erika! The exact DNA code held by the first generation Mew Ichigo is one of a kind! We will NEVER see it again! The only means to access her powers has been bound to only her firstborn daughter. To lose this child is the greatest tragedy our world has ever faced!"

Erika stares at her desk.

"Any other questions, Erika?" the teacher asks angrily.

"No, Sir." she responds.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2: My Unknown Reflection**_

Erika sits at the food court with Evan and her friends Abi and Dani, trying not to make faces at the Mew Academy students. The same three were showing off again. One was part of the class with no powers, and thus was a red emblem. He was doing insanely high flips and posing for photographs. Another was something like a monotaur. He was lifting women sitting at tables like Gaston from Disney's Beauty and the Beast. The last was a snow woman who floated gently through the air.

Erika rolls her eyes, then looks at her friends. Both Abi and Dani were enthralled with their performance. Both had applied, but the school had a 0.1% acceptance rate. And Abi and Dani were a part of the rejected 99.9%. Truth betold, no one really knew the criteria to get into the school. Apart from the obvious people, such as those selected by dignitaries to be their future body guards or advisors, the average every-day person who applied seemed to have as much chance of getting in as the nationally reknowned math genius. But, everyone knew that graduation, which seemed to be just as hard as getting into the school in the first place, meant instant success. A person wouldn't even have to go to college, they would be set for life. Those who emerged could do anything. Rumor has it one graduate was immediately selected to enter the Nasa program.

Erika rests her head in her hands. _Regardless, those showoffs look like a bunch of loons. _She really wasn't jealous. Truth betold, she hadn't even applied. Heck, she hadn't even read a brochure. She simply had no interest. She looks over at Evan, who had been looking at her, but quickly turns away to watch the performance.

Erika narrows her eyes. _That guy is so weird... _She lays down on her arms until the show ends and her friends' minds are free to continue their conversation.

Finally, they focus again. "So, what story should the Newspaper club do next?" Abi starts.

"Anything but cafeteria food. Since we started investigating, I can't eat a thing anymore!" Dani points out.

Evan pipes in, "Why don't we see if we can interview a Mew or a Knight?"

"Get real! Like they'd see us?" Dani quips.

Erika rests her head on her hand, "Actually, they might. It's not like we live far from Mew Mansion. There's no problem in asking. Besides, aren't they known for being unpredictable?"

"Okay, but let's think of another story. You know, when this plan bombs." Abi adds, smirking.

"EVERYBODY PUT YOUR HANDS UP!" Two men in black ski masks waive guns in each hand.

The crowd screams as they timidly raise their hands.

"That means you too!" a third walks out from behind a corner, pointing a gun at the three Mew Academy students. "No heroic stuff."

Erika sits with her hands up. She looks around and sets eyes on a panic button beneath the service counter of the Auntie Anne's. She searches for the owner, but notices an "out to lunch" sign instead. _If I __could only get to that button..._

"I WANT ALL YOUR CASH! IN THE BAG! NOW!" one of the goons starts passing bags to the food vendors.

One reaches for their panic button, feels something smash against his head, instead. Dressed in the same uniform, another man hops opens the register instead. "Sorry, Boss." he laughs.

Erika's eyes narrow. _They planned this well. No wonder they did this in a food court! You don't know who you can trust! Not to mention there are no bars that come down and lock you in like the department stores... _She stays still until another vendor, one working alone, reaches toward their button. All guns turn to him, and he freezes. At the same moment, Erika reaches toward the button.

"YOU! GIRL!" she hears the man call out, but her hand is only a foot away.

She feels a hand on hers.

BANG!

CLINK!

She turns around and sees a man dressed in red. She tries to pull away, but stops. She rubs her eyes. "Evan!" _I could have sworn I saw someone wearing red. _She turns to the robbers, but they stand there, frozen. Everyone was looking at them.

Evan turns to face her, the sword of The Red Knight disappearing from his hands. She realizes the clinking sound was from the bullet hitting the sword.

She lets go of Evan and moves backward.

Seeing the robbers so distracted, the two of the Mew Academy students took the opportunity to take them down. The third, the snow woman approaches Erika. A couple meters away, she kneels on one knee. "Emiko-sama."

"Emi-ko. Sama?" Erika looks again at Evan, who has also bowed. Soon, everyone in the court was bowing toward her.

It seemed like they stayed like that forever. Eventually, official guards from Mew Mansion wearing the crest of the original transformation piece arrive, bowing.

"Emiko-sama, please come with us. Your parents are waiting," one says.

Panicking, she looks back at her table, but Abi and Dani are both on the fround, bowing toward her.

_Abi? Dani?_

She turns back to Evan, "I won't go without Evan!" the words seem to jump from her mouth.

"Very well. Evan-sama, please accompany us to Mew Mansion."

He rises and starts to follow them, but Erika grabs his arm. The group surround them both and lead them outside.

The doors close with a loud and deep sound that echoes through the foyer. She finds herself ushered to the most beautiful foyer decked in white and gold and bearing the photos of the 6 generations of Mews and their Knights. On the center table sit photos of girls and boys more or less her age, but one stands out. She picks up a photo of a baby with her same eyes and hair color. Carrying it, she walks over to the photograph of the sixth generation Ichigo. _Brown eyes. Light golden skin. Just like mine. _She'd always known she was adopted, but she'd been told her family was dead.

Evan walks up behind her. She grabs his arm. "I don't know what to believe anymore."

"Emiko?"

The famous voice of Alyssa resounds behind her. Erika turns around to see all the Mews, Knights, and their sons and daughters. Erika says nothing, taking a slightly stronger hold on Evan's arm.

"Emiko? Sweetheart." Stephen's voice breaks.

_The Red Knight. He's... crying?_

Erika looks closely at them. _Why did I never notice? I have my mother's eyes, my father's nose. They were there. Right in front of me! _"Mom! Dad!" she runs toward them.

"Emiko!" they race toward her, embracing her.

She feels two more arms around her, a girl who looked like a younger version of herself. "Emiko-neesama!"

_She must be my little sister! I have a little sister! I have a cute little sister!_

After several minutes, they let go so the group can have a good look at her. All were beaming.

Erika moves over to Evan, who was standing awkwardly alone. "Mom, Dad, I want to introduce you to Evan." she grabs his hand and pulls him toward them. He starts to kneel.

"Oh no!" Alyssa exclaims, stopping him with a hand on his shoulder. "Anyone important to Emiko is one of us. No need to bow," she smiles warmly.

The Red Knight claps his hands twice, "A feast! In honor of Emiko's safe return!" he calls. Then he looks at Erika. "I can't wait to hear all about your life!"

The Minto heir approaches her, followed by the Retasu heir. They extend their hands to her, and Erika shakes them. "Glad to have you back! We have great expectations of our future leader!" they say, brimming with smiles.

Erika freezes as she watches them merrily head toward the dining room. _Leader? _Her heart stops. _Oh no. That's what a Mew Ichigo is. A leader. The head of all the... oh no. _She starts to breathe heavily, but calms down when she feels Evan's hand in hers.

He looks at her with a face of understanding, "I'll be with you the whole way... if that's okay...," he whispers.

Erika smiles, nodding.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3: Great Expectations**_

That night, Erika slept in the same room she was stolen from 17 years ago. Apparently her parents had redecorated it every year on her birthday with things they figured the average girl her age would like. On her vanity sat makeup, and on her desk lay various teen magazines.

_They really missed me. _ She pulls the comforter over her head. _I'm Emiko? This is like dream. A good one? A bad one? I was happy living at the Robinsons... But... here is where I belong... Is this the life I want? _

Her mind goes back to all the history lessons she'd pretended to ignore. The scars, the tragic deaths of previous Mews, the fearsome battles. Every Mew had died saving someone. _Who would choose this life?_

She peeks out at her uniform. The uniform of Mew Academy.

At her request, Evan would be attending too. She sighs as she thinks back to her conversation with her adoptive mom. The poor woman nearly fainted when she realized the real Mew Ichigo had called her! But her voice was so sad when she agreed to let Erika go. And she about fell apart when Evan declared he would stay with Erika. But, what could she do? The Mews were asking this of her. The very ones who kept the world she took for granted safe. Reluctantly, she let her children go.

Erika turns over in her bed. She missed that old boxspring mattress with the tear in the corner. She wanted so much to be back in her old room, chipped paint and all. _But only I can be the Ichigo..._

Frustrated, she grabs a pillow and gets up. She exits her room past two guards and heads down the hallway. She knocks twice on Evan's door. He doesn't answer, so she quietly lets herself in.

His loud snores ring out. Comforted by the same sound she'd heard every night for years, she pulls back his covers and lays down next to him. She then tucks herself in, much to the surprise of the peeking guards who shut the door and stand watch outside.

She stares at the ceiling. _I must learn to be the Ichigo. Every past Ichigo was great, leading in wisdom and integrity. I won't be the first failure!_

Within moments, she had fallen asleep.

When she awoke the following morning, Erika found Evan lying on a pillow on the floor. She stretches, then heads back to her room to get her toiletries.

After getting ready, just to confirm what everyone knew, Erika took the blood test that confirmed her to be the daughter of Ichigo and The Red Knight. With that legally settled, she could start her life as the heir.

She took a seat in the great dining room for a meal. As she looks around the table, she finds that only the sons and daughters of the sixth generations are present. She had been told that all of the others had flown out to various parts of the planet to engage in peace talks, military training, etc. They eat their meals elegantly, showing their years of training to prepare them to be future leaders of the world. All of them wear Mew Academy uniforms.

She finds a note from her mother and father next to her plate:

"_Emiko, _

_Sorry we couldn't be there to eat breakfast with you and see you off on your first day at Mew Academy. A war broke out in Afghanistan, and we need to see if we can negotiate peace terms before the United States sends out troops. We love you, and we are so glad to have you back with us. _

_When we get back, please take us to your favorite places. We want to learn everything about you._

_With Much Love,_

_Mom and Dad."_

Moments later, Evan arrives, dressed in his uniform. He starts to pull up a chair, but stops when he sees the looks of the others.

"What are you doing?" Erika asks, oblivious. "Look!" she points to a beautiful array of jams, perfect toast, and various pastries. "This has got to be the best apple crisp I have ever tasted!" she holds it up to his mouth.

Evan glances toward the others, then takes a small, wary bite.

"See? Isn't it delicious?"

"Yeah. Um... I'm going to skip breakfast today." he says, testing the waters.

Erika grabs his sleeve. "Oh come on! Have breakfast with me!"

He freezes.

"Well, you heard her! Take a seat already!" the future Mew Zakuro demands.

He takes a seat, and a maid places a series of plates in front of him.

"Oh!" Erika exclaims. "I forgot my cell phone!" she gets up and runs upstairs, leaving Evan to the others.

"If you don't want me here, just tell me. I can stay out of your way," he states timidly.

"Never has someone completely unrelated eaten at this table. I mean, you don't have a Mew or Knight father, and you aren't dating her," the future Mew Minto states simply.

"But," the future Mew Zakuro adds. "Our leader wants you here. Therefore, we will learn to like you."

"Or at least not hate you," Emiko's younger sister adds.

"I understand. Thank you." Evan says.

"Make no mistake," the future Mew Purin chimes in. "Our ancestors owe the Ichigo line our lives. We exist today because her ancestors have saved them. It is our way of saying thanks. It has nothing to do with you."

"I-I will keep that in mind."

They hear footsteps descend the stairs. "Got it!"

As if on cue, everyone rises and heads outside. Evan follows and finds them entering a limosine. He steps inside after Erika, feeling completely out of place until he feels Erika pulling on his shirt. He turns to her. He looks at her expression, and realizes she feels the same. He places his hand over hers, and she looks up at him, calmed.

Class was horrible. It seemed as though everything they taught was miles beyond anything she had ever seen before. In school, she was taking Trigonometry, but this was Calculus. After an hour of hearing about integrals and derivatives, she was ready for gym class. Or, so she thought.

Erika had confidence about her body. She was thin and fit. But, when she entered the locker room, she felt as though she were 100 pounds overweight. She couldn't tell under their long-sleeved uniforms, but everyone had perfectly carved muscles. There was not a person in there without a six pack. Seeing this, she takes her uniform to one of the bathroom stalls to change.

As she walks into the fieldhouse, she realizes she had just entered hell. Everywhere she looked were obstacle courses that looked like they came straight from the military. _I should have known..._ She thinks.

"Warm up! Gimme 5 laps!" the teacher calls out.

_Okay, I can do this! _Erika thinks as she looks around the track. She steps on the track and begins to run. People pass her left and right. 10 minutes go by. She looks around. _I've barely even made it half of the way!_ She hears someone approach on her right.

"Move it! You're slowing everyo-" he stops when he realizes who she is. "Sorry."

"That's okay. Um... I run a 10-minute mile, and I've been running this track for a good 10 minutes, but I haven't even gone around half of the way. Isn't that weird?"

"Nah. You'll have to run a 5 minute mile if you want to get around this track in a reasonable time. Its not an ordinary track. The material pushes you back a bit to get more distance out of it."

"Are you serious! Then how do people run 5 laps on this thing!"

"You get used to it. Heh. 5 laps is just a warm up."

_I really have entered hell._

By the time Erika finished her training, the other students in her class were already working on some sort of exercise. Exhausted, she takes a seat on a mat to watch.

"Vivian!"

"HAI!" a girl with well-defined, muscular legs and a scar on her face steps up. She does a series of three backflips, each time gaining more and more height. Finally, she pushes off on her arms and lands perfectly balanced on a pole approximately 4 incles in diameter and 7 feet off the ground.

Erika's jaw drops. _They're like circus performers! _Her mind goes back to the chases she'd seen on the Mew version of Cops. She'd always thought they were fake. Who knew people could really run up buildings or flip over gates. And she, without the powers of Ichigo yet, had been placed in the class without special abilities. This was normal!

"Corey!"

"HAI!" a man whose muscles made the short sleeves of his shirt tight steps up and does the same thing as if it were the easiest thing in the world.

Erika slinks down. _I can't do this! I can't do this!_ She looks over to see what the other classes are doing until it was her turn.

She sees the future Mew Zakuro in a match with the future Mew Retasu.

"Now watch their form!" the teacher says to his class. "Fight!"

The battle was like a blur. Everything moved so fast, but she could tell every move was executed with such perfect precision. It was beautiful, like the dance of swords themselves. Neither could get a hit on the other, but both were working at full strength. It was obvious that if even a part of any hit connected, the receiver would be badly injured. It was also obvious that it was because they knew none of their hits would connect that they took the demonstration seriously. They had that deep of a trust between them.

She looks at their arms and her brows furrow. _Why aren't they muscular like everyone else? _As she stares, it becomes apparent that though they don't have protruding muscles, they have all the strength, if not more, than the other students. She shrugs. _Guess I'll learn..._ she thinks as she turns to her own teacher.

She finds him angrily staring back along with the others in her class.

"I am well aware the future Ichigo cannot perform this basic exercise," the teacher begins.

It was as if he had punched her.

He continues, "Being the case, why aren't you paying attention to how the other students master it?"

"I'm sorry," she starts, "I'll pay attention."

It was like being in history class, but worse. There, no one expected her to pay attention. But here, life was about saving the world. Everything they did was to keep the planet safe. It was basically a school for the elite warrior. Being unable to do the basics was an insult.

She wanted to grab Evan's sleeve.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4: Evan**_

Evan loved Erika from the moment he met her, but he didn't figure it out until Valentines day in 2nd grade. That day, the kids' homework was to create a valentine and give it to someone. Inside, they had to write why that person was special to them. As if it were the most natural thing to do, Evan chose Erika.

That evening, he sat in Bart's room, surrounded by crayons. He drew himself and Erika playing soccer on the front of his card while Bart drew a plane on his.

"You giving it to Erika?" Bart asks.

"Yep!" Evan replies.

Bart makes a circle for the sun, "I don't get what's so awesome about little sisters... mine just cries and poops."

"My little sister is special! She plays sports with me, and she's cute, and she reads me Dr. Seuss books when Mom's at work," he draws Erika a pink dress, "She's really cute when she gets scared of the closet. She comes and sleeps next to me. I keep her pillow on my bed for her."

"You have a crush on your sister!" Bart exclaims.

"No!"

He breaks out in song, "You have a crush! You have a crush! You want to kiss her! You want to kiss her!"

"No I don't!" he argues, but stops. "What if I do have a crush on her?"

"Really?" Bart asks shocked. "I guess... my big sis always talks about this warm tingly feeling when she's with her boyfriend. And she clutches her heart sometimes when she's on the phone with him."

Evan puts a hand on his heart, "It beats faster when she's around, and it hurts when she spends time with other boys."

Bart sits back, "Woah. You like her! Woah!"

And so it began.

"Making the derivative y+x^(3x-4)," the teacher writes as she speaks on the board.

"Sensei!" Evan raises his hand.

She turns around, "Yes... Evan was it?"

"Yes, Ma'am. Wouldn't the derivative be 3y+x^(3x-4)?"

She looks over her work. "Ah! Thank you, Evan. I forgot to bring down these integers. Very good, Evan."

After class, the student in front of him turns around. It was a girl with red hair and freckles. "Nice! I didn't even notice that!" she smiles.

To his left, another student, a blonde boy with green eyes holds out his hand. Evan shakes it.

"I'm Nathan," the boy says.

"Sara," the girl announces as she grabs her bag. "Welcome to our school, Evan."

"Thank you." he says.

"Want to have lunch with us?" Nathan asks.

"Sorry, I'm meeting a friend for lunch."

"Nathan!" Sara gives him a poke. "He's with the Mews and Knights!" she turns back to Evan. "Don't worry, we won't get mad. It is a major honor to eat with them! I wouldn't give it up either." she ushers Nathan out, waving.

He waves back. _Maybe this place won't be so bad._

He enters the cafeteria and finds the future Mews and Knights and their siblings and cousins all at one table. He approaches, receiving looks by some which receive swift pokes by the ones who announced they would accept him this morning. The changes in attitude are instant.

"Evan!"

Erika's familiar voice reaches his ears. He turns to her and receives a big hug. She looks up at him with her big doe eyes. He could tell she'd had a rough day. He pats her on the head with a smile. "Gokurousama."

She buries her face in his shirt, oblivious to the stares of everyone.

He couldn't stop his heart from feeling a bit of joy. He felt badly that she was hurting, but he was glad to be the one she ran to. He leads her to an empty spot at the lunch table.

As they sit, Erika exclaims, "Oh! Sorry! Your shirt!"

Mascara and light blue eyeshadow were smudged on it.

"Sorry, Evan!"

He smiles at her, not hating the proof that she had come to him for assurance. He dabs a napkin in water and begins to wipe it off. "It's okay. It's your first time wearing makeup after all."

Erika's expression calms. _Of course he'd understand me. He always understands me._

She dips her own napkin in water to help, but a man in a white shirt, black cumberbun, and a bowtie barges between then and applies a solution to it that instantly dissolves the makeup. Within seconds, he had retaken his post against the wall.

_Woah. I hadn't even noticed him..._both Evan and Erika think together.

After their meal, they look at their schedules.

"I have history, calculus-based physics, and literature." Evan states to Erika.

"'Mew Practice'?" She reads. "I guess special Mew training or something," she continues.

"It's exclusive to Mews and Knights. Not even our siblings take part." the future Indigo Knight informs her. Erika looks closely at him. _Where have I seen him before... oh! The son of the President!_ She looks at the future Mew Minto._ What a fitting couple..._ She thinks. She takes a look around the table and realizes all the Knights are famous. Actors, singers, children of politicians... She looks over at Evan who was slumped in his chair. He was listlessly poking at a meatball.

Erika grabs his hand, and he faces her, "You okay?"

"I'm a nobody. If you want me to leave, I understand."

"You aren't a nobody! Please," she knew she was being selfish. "Please stay with me. I need you."

That was all it took for him to sit up and finally eat that meatball. The words echoed through his head. _I need you._ It was like nothing could bring him down.

He nods to her, and takes another bite of food.

After lunch, they part for training. Class was in an elegant greenhouse, surrounded by rare flowers. Eventually, the teacher, a man Erika recognized as the brother of The Red Knight enters. _My uncle..._ she connects.

He walks in and immediately smiles at her. She smiles back, hoping a class taught by a relative would be a bit more bearable than all the others. It wasn't. They started off with incredibly advanced economic change scenarios, then went college-level theories of communication. Following that were lessons in Japanese, Spanish, Korean, and Mandarin, of which collectively, Erika only knew about 10 words.

By the end of the four hours, her brain was fried. The good news was Mews and Knights don't get homework. The bad news was it was time to train with her fellow mews.

She knew something was very wrong when she followed them to the pool room, and someone began tying her arms from behind, but her numbed brain didn't register. She looks around and the others are just letting them do it. Once tied, she watched as one by one, they were thrown into the water on all different angles, but they easily righted themselves and used only their feet to keep their heads above water.

Finally, it was her turn, but her experience didn't go so well. She got stuck with her face in the water. She tried to scream, but only blew bubbles. A minute passed before she was finally righted by the future Mew Minto, who didn't even try to hide her scowl. By the time she was righted, Erika had had just about enough. She didn't even remember the rest of the lesson.

When she got back to Mew Mansion, she didn't know whether to scream or burst into tears. She burst through the door and raced to the northern wing, almost knocking over several servants. Without knocking, she burst through Evan's door. She saw his back, his school shirt in his hand and his blazer on his bed.

He turns around, about to yell at whoever had come in, but he feels Erika's familiar arms embrace him. With each sob, she jerks, and soon he feels her tears slide down his back. Any thoughts he had about being happy she came to him only with her troubles vanished as he stood there, letting her cry. For a long time, they just stood there.

After she finished, they took a seat on his bed. She lays her head on his lap, and he strokes her hair.

"Whatever you decide to do, I won't hate you. I will stand with you," he starts. "If you want to quit, I will never think less of you."

They stay there in silence.

Finally, Erika speaks. "I can't quit. If I quit, we'll all succumb to the whims of that dark lord." she whimpers, tears flowing again. "I don't have any options! I either suffer through this or suffer through whatever he wants. I can't win. I can't be free." she sniffles. "I want to go home. I was sad when I thought my parents were dead... but... I was happy living with you and Mrs... and Mom. And going to a normal school. I want that back so badly. I never appreciated it... Evan?"

"Yes, Erika?"

"I am so unhappy here. Please. Please don't leave me."

"I'll never leave you. As long as you'll have me, I will never leave your side," he kisses her cheek.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Chapter 5: New Resolutions**_

The two wake up in the same position they had fallen asleep in. Erika still lay on Evan's lap, and Evan had leaned back, and lay sprawled on the bed.

This morning, however, Erika woke up determined to bring her best to everything that day. She knew it would be a long time before she was able to catch up, but she resolved to get a little better every class. _Besides, I have Evan to encourage me._

In fact, today, she woke up with an idea. She runs to her room and gathers her toothbrush and tongue scraper before rushing back to join Evan as he flosses his teeth. She rinses her toothbrush and steals some of his toothpaste. As she brushes her teeth, she watches him in the mirror. Several times, he glances back at her.

After a minute, Erika spits out the paste into the sink and rinses. Then, she states her thoughts, "Evan, would you be my Knight?"

He coughs, nearly swallowing the floss. He grabs a glass, fills it with water, takes a swig, and sets it down hard. "Huh!"

"I want you to be my Knight."

_What is this? Is this a confession? Her Knight! No... this is a proposal, isn't it? Woah! I... I reached her! I-_

"Just for a couple months until I get up to speed in my private training classes. Only Mews and Knights can attend after all."

Evan's heart sank like the Titanic.

"After I'm doing well and whatnot, I'll just tell them I realized my love for you is that of a sister to her brother. I'll take all the blame."

Take that back. Not the Titanic. Like Atlantis. Lost in the Bermuda Triangle. Never to be found again.

"Uh... sure..." he concedes, not that he meant to, the words just came.

"Thank you!" she gives him a small hug as she runs back to her room to take a shower.

Feeling numb, Evan sits on the bathroom floor, staring at the woodwork.

The announcement of Evan as a Knight at breakfast came as no surprise. Apparently, everyone had been waiting for this.

"Wow. Hard work really does pay off," the Mirai* no Green Knight, a famous actor, states, genuinely shocked.

Evan laughs nervously, caught between embarrassment that everyone seemed to know his feelings except Erika, and fear that she would find out from their quips.

Evan took to the special classes like a fish to water. Apparently, he had been studying Japanese alone for years, and already spoke Spanish.

As Erika heard him speaking with the others, a knot formed in her chest. She felt as though she didn't know her own brother. At that instant, she realized all she ever did was talk about herself, and all he did was follow her. Even all the way here. _I've been holding you back. I'm so sorry, Evan. Once I find my feet, I'll let you go._

That night, Erika felt farther from her brother than ever before, but she forced herself to focus. They studied late in to the night.

Several times a week, they hit the gym. Erika quickly learned to loathe visiting the gym with Evan even more than she hated going to gym in class. He had her doing one arm pullups and things she didn't even know the names of. But, by and by, gym class became easier and easier. She hated the muscles that replaced her slender arms, but they let her get to a level much closer to the other students. She even learned the tricks from the others to eliminate the "bulky" look.

In class, she was still considered an idiot, but three months later, she had mastered the basics of all the required languages. Though no one else was proud of her, she took comfort in the fact that Evan was. And, she was proud of herself.

The night before the last day of school before Christmas break found Evan and Erika visiting Mrs. Robinson. Outside, several guards stood watch as they shared a meal of turkey, dressing, ham, greens, and all the necessities of American holiday cooking. A warm fire blared behind them, casting a glow on the table.

"You know, Erika, you can come home if you want to. There will always be a place for you." Mrs. Robinson says. "You... if you want... can always be my daughter."

Erika grasps her hand, "You will always be my Mom. I think about you every day, and I do want to come home, I just... This is something only I can do. And I've come so far. I don't want to give up."

Mrs. Robinson rises from her seat and hugs Erika. She then turns to Evan and motions for him to come close for a group hug. She kisses both of their foreheads, "He's not being a bother, is he?"

"Mother!" Evan quips, knowing she's joking.

Erika laughs, "No, he's fine. In fact, he's the reason I'm improving. Evan, I never could have gotten this far without you. I can't tell you how much I wanted to quit, but when I remember you're rooting for me, it always gives me the strength to push just a little more. Thank you."

"Awww!" Mrs. Robinson says, touched as she pulls her kids close for another hug. She wipes a tear from her eye.

"Mom!" Evan laughs.

As they leave, Mrs. Robinson stops Evan, "You know, you can go for her now."

He whirls around to face her, "You knew? How long?"

"Oh... since grammar school or so."

He blushes.

"Dad knew too. We both agreed not to do anything about it. You weren't related by blood, so we didn't have anything to say. Plus, you ended up banning her from your room yourself." she pats his head. "We trusted you, and we were right. You turned out great."

"Mom, I can't tell her. I don't want to lose what we have." he looks outside and sees her gathering snowballs to throw at him as soon as he exits. His face warms as he watches her.

Mrs. Robinson catches his glance. "You really love her, don't you?" she says softly.

"Yeah. I do."

"Then how will you feel when she chooses another?" she asks, watching him closely.

His expression changes into a deep sadness, "When she chooses another, my job will be complete. I can only support her until she does."

"Why can't that man be you?" she asks.

"She's already told me she doesn't see me as anything but a brother," he takes a deep breath. "So I am going to be the best brother I can be."

Mrs. Robinson hugs her son and kisses his head again, but this time, he doesn't complain.

"I've raised a very good man. I hope Erika sees that. Take care of her, Evan. Don't let her go."

"I won't. I'll be by her side until she finds someone to take my place."

She lets him go, and heads out to meet an onslaught of snowballs. He was thankful for them as the melted snow would hide his tears.

*Mirai means Future


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter 6: What's On Their Minds**_

The second semester found Erika doing better and better, but she still wasn't at par with the other students. Evan, on the other hand, was thriving to the point at which he had become well-known. Even the other Knights began to show him respect. Erika was genuinely happy for him and longed for the day she would also prove herself.

On this specific day, the Mews and Knights were learning to battle with a 17-armed diclonius. They had to stay in the room with it for 4 minutes. The trick, she had been told in class, was to concentrate on the changes in the air. That would teach them how to duck the attacks, and also teach them fight in the dark.

Evan and the others seemed to take to the task relatively easily. In fact, some used blindfolds.

The one that impressed Erika the most was the fight of the Mirai no Yellow Night. He was one of the ones without a blindfold. Actually, though he was worlds away from Erika's level, he was considered the weakest of the Mews and Knights. This wasn't his fault, however as he was the newest, other than Evan, to be added to the Knights. Still, he was already a member of the school, so he was picking things up at a faster level.

He enters the practice room, the diclonius on one side and himself on the other. The diclonius doesn't move a muscle, but The Mirai no Yellow Knight jumps. A loud slap resounds from the floor right where he was. But, immediately, he groans as he feels a cut in his leg. It was obvious from the amount of blood that it was deep. Still, he stood up again as if there was no pain at all.

Erika looks over at The Mirai no Purin and catches a small reaction, which she quickly squelches.

Erika turns back to the fight. She watches as he jumps, dodges, and speeds around like there is no problem, even as he tracks blood all over the floor. It seemed to take forever before the 4 minute bell rang. Erika watches as a box-like contraption emerges from the floor and ceiling enclosing the diclonius.

The Mirai no Yellow Knight turns toward the control room and gives a deep bow. Only then does he let himself collapse from the injury. A team quickly enters, cleaning off the floor and taking him to urgent care.

Erika sees The Mirai no Purin trying not to fidget. It was obvious she wanted to go to him.

Erika places a hand on her shoulder, and she looks up at her. "Why don't you go with him?" Erika asks her.

The girl says nothing.

"Go." Erika tries, hoping her ties to the Ichigo line would let her give such an order.

The Mirai no Purin gives a short bow and runs out toward the ambulance.

"Why did you do that?" The Mirai no Minto asks.

"Let her see him? It was obvious she wanted to." Erika responds.

The Mirai no Minto clenches her hands, "If we went with our Knights every time they got injured, we'd never be on the field."

Erika looks around and finds all the others staring back at her. Some were shaking their heads.

"I'm sorry." _Wait, why was she apologizing? Weren't the Knights people these girls loved?_

"It's your turn," the teacher motions to Erika.

"Feel the wind... Feel the wind... Feel the..." she enters the room and panics as she sees the enclosure containing the diclonius. "I'm not ready for this!"

"You'll never be "ready" for what you find in the field. All we can do is make you ready for what we can think of," was the teachers' response.

The enclosure opens revealing the diclonius.

Almost immediately, Erika feels wind near her head, she ducks and feels something pass over it.

Side!

She jumps to the left, barely missing the impact.

Up!

She ducks.

Down!

She leaps.

Again and again, like instinct, she moves.

Feeling confident, she starts to get loose, but the moment she does, she feels a pain worse than anything she had ever felt before in her arm. She looks at it and sees a deep cut drawing blood. She falls to the ground, holding it.

"Oh no!" The Mirai no Zakuro says, "She isn't concentrating! She's a sitting duck!"

They all race downstairs, but Evan was already prepared. He races in, grabbing her hand. Panicking, it doesn't take much to access the Sword of the Red Knight again. He easily defends them until the enclosure is placed around the diclonius again.

"Evan, I'm so sor-"

He grasps her to him tightly.

She places her good arm on his back, "Evan..."

The paramedics enter, placing her on a stretcher and treating her arm.

The Mirai no Minto walks quickly toward her. Once she is right in front of her, she slaps her hard, stunning her. Evan grabs her arm.

"Let me go! I don't need to hit her again."

Evan obliges.

Erika looks at her, face red. The others gather behind her.

"You imbecile!" she starts, "You have no respect whatsoever for you job here, do you? I saw you! Getting comfortable with the scenario. You cannot do that on the field! One mistake here won't cost you your life, but one there will!"

"I learned my lesson! What more do you want?" Erika snaps back.

"No, you don't get it! It's the same thing! You don't think!"

"Instead of always degrading me, why don't you try explaining for once? Ya know, you all have been hard on me since I got here! I know I wasn't raised like a military brat like you all were, but I am doing the very best I can. And I get nothing for it!"

"You want something? You don't deserve anything! That's your problem! You want our approval? Your issue is that you don't understand your place!"

"Well, what is my place? Enlighten me oh blue-feathered one."

It took all of the Mirai no Minto's strength not to punch Erika, "You're job is to lead us. We depend on you to come up with our plans. There are no attacks, no strikes, no wins without you."

"Isn't that because you all are too stupid? For all your high-minded talk, you still need ME, don't you? I would leave if I could!"

"YEAH! We do need you! We've all tried to take the classic Mew Ichigo leadership this-that-and-the-other, but we've failed. Every last scenario any of us, even your sister, has come up with has burned up in smoke. You're right. We need you. No, we need a better version of you. We need you to shape up into something we can look up to."

"Then why won't you help me?"

"Because you make us sick looking at you! Would you just think? While you are having your pity parties about how harsh we are with you, did you ever think about the fact we are about to give our lives to achieve your plans? You are our leader! From the moment you were born, you were our leader! And the way you are now could kill us. We can't stand you because we can't trust you."

"That is not my fault!"

She clenches her fists again. "Whether it is your fault or not doesn't matter. A parent often gives a child their good with their bad. But, it is the child's choice to keep that bad or get rid of it."

"Look, I just want a little patience. Is that really too much to ask? I am working really hard here." Erika tries.

"Mew Ichigo is out there right now fighting. Every day she's out there risking her life. Every day is a day she may not come back. We don't have time. We need you now." The Mirai no Minto sighs. "We're afraid too."

Erika stares at her, for the first time seeing the girl for who she was.

The Mirai no Retasu steps up, "We didn't choose this life either, but there is no one else who can do what we do. So, we've lived ready to give up our lives enacting the plans of the Ichigo in order to save the world. It is what we were born to do. But, what do we do without an Ichigo? Where does that put us?"

"I get it, but... I'm also afraid. I was just a normal girl half a year ago. Suddenly, I'm told I have this huge destiny. Then this. I'm a bit overwhelmed," Erika says.

"We've all felt like that," the Mirai no Retasu responds, "But the world needs our resolve. Fear makes us weaker. So, you have to squelch that feeling."

"And... why is it you are so harsh with your knights?" Erika ventures since they are already talking. "Aren't they your boyfriends or fiances or something?"

The Mirai no Zakuro looks at her boyfriend. She grabs his hand. "I love him," she starts. "But we both understand we have a duty. He protects me, I support you. Together, we save the world. Our love cannot be bigger than the world's safety. Our love is simply the only way we will be able to transform into our angelic forms."

The Mirai no Purple Knight responds, "We knew what we were getting into when we decided to marry these women. But, we love them. We can't bear the thought of them fighting alone, so we accept these conditions. Plus, there is no greater honor for a man than dying as a Knight."

"That's so sad." Erika says.

"You have a Knight too." The Mirai no Minto adds.

Erika looks up at Evan. He smiles at her, knowingly.

Erika turns away from him. _It won't be long. You'll be free soon, Evan. Then you won't have to worry about any of this. _She turns back to the group. "Thank you for telling me all of this. I understand a bit better now. I will work hard not to betray your expectations."

"We really are sorry we have to put so much on you so fast. It's just that we don't know when our time of taking classes like this will end. The third generation Ichigo had to take control at 13 after all." The Mirai no Retasu adds. "Rest assured we are also working hard. You will always have us in battle to support you."

Erika nods as the paramedic puts the finishing touches on her bandage.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Chapter 7: Yurusenai**_

It was an ordinary May Tuesday. It wasn't especially windy or sunny or cold or hot. Just there. But it would prove to be the most memorable day for the entire world.

This day began with the Mews heading off in their limo to school, but along the way, they received an emergency call. There was an attack by a legion of soldiers loyal to the Dark Emperor, a man who never revealed his name, but was only known by his white suit and fire-red hair. Rumor has it only the first generation Mew Ichigo knew what his powers were, and she never passed on the information to her descendants. For whatever reason, this man remained young throughout the last hundred years.

The Mirai no Mews and Knights are taken straight to the closest shelter, the school.

For events such as this one, shelters had been created all over Chicago in strategic places. Everyone knew that the loss of a Mirai no Mew specifically meant the loss of that line forever, so they were always hidden during times of crisis until the birth of an heir.

The limo sped toward the school, led by police cars. Suddenly, they felt a great tremor in the earth, and a piece of the ground rose, lifting the limo on its side and turning it over.

"Everyone okay?" The Mirai no Purple Knight asks.

"Yeah," they all say.

"Except for the driver," the Mirai no Retasu points out. He had been impaled by a branch and died instantly.

Erika begins to cough, then the others.

"Smoke!" someone yells, "Get out! Hurry!"

They exit the vehicle just as it explodes, forcing them to the ground. They try to rise, but the earth trembles again, causing them to fall back. It soon stops, giving them the chance to stand up and look around. It seemed as though they were the only ones still alive. All the other police cars had been turned over or had smashed into trees or rails.

They were in a small town, about ¾ of the way to Mew Academy.

"Let's go!" the Mirai no Minto announces. They all start running toward the school. Thankfully, they weren't far away, and the battle hadn't reached that location. Within 10 minutes, they are all safely inside.

The school was deserted, but that was to be expected since all the students were in the battlefield.

Erika quickly sets to finding a television, Evan in tow. She looks in the door of the teachers lounge and locates one. She kicks down the door easily and turns it on. She sees scenes of the fight all over Chicago. The city, the north side, the-

She gasps and turns to Evan. He sees it too. "We have to save Mrs. Robinson!" She starts to head out the door, but is stopped by Evan.

Evan's hands were tight on his shoulders, and he appeared to be shaking, "Erika, no. We have to stay here."

"What are you talking about? She's our Mom! What did we get this strength for if not to save her?"

"Erika! You can't risk your life! If you die, it's all over. Stay here. Please!"

She stares at Evan, eyes tearing up as she watched the map where the hordes were shown nearing their old home. She slaps his hands, causing him to let go, not because of pain, but because of surprise.

Taking that opportunity, she uses her training to give him a swift kick right in the chest. Just enough to knock him down for a while, but not injure him. As he coughs, she stands over him, "I am going to save my mother. With or without you."

"Eri-ka," he coughs, unable to rise.

Erika races out the door using her status to commandeer the car of middle-aged woman. She knew she had only about 10 minutes based on the time it would take for Evan to gain the strength to call the others. She presses the pedal down harder.

At Mrs. Robinson's, the legion had just arrived. Among them were some of the most hideous creatures ever to walk the earth. Some had eyes like an octopus or skin like a cockroach. Others had bewitching beauty that brought you to self loathing with just a glance. One with acid dripping from its fangs and arms like a praying mantis burst through the door. Behind him was another type with what appeared to be lit bombs for arms and a head. The sizzling countdown could be heard through the home.

Mrs. Robinson lay under mounds of blankets in her cellar, praying the monsters would think no one was home. _Take anything! Just please go!_ She clutched a photo of her late husband.

She could hear them through the floorboards upstairs as one entered the living room and the other scrounged around upstairs. She heard yells as they found her secret stash, the $4,000 her husband left her that she just couldn't spend because she knew how much he had worked to save that for them. She held her hand over her face so she wouldn't whimper.

A sound. Like sizzling.

She listens closely. It was a sizzle, right above her head, something was definitely sizzling. She moves her ear closer, but immediately pulls back, biting her tongue to stifle her scream. Something was burning her ear! She reached to cover it, but as soon as her hands came in contact with it, they began to burn too. She dropped the picture frame, and it made a loud sound as the glass broke into pieces.

She gasped as the two descended the stairs, facing her. She moved backwards against the wall, then she crunches into a ball, but she knew it was only a matter of seconds before she experienced the worst pain of her life.

The goons approach her, and she shuts her eyes, covering her head, still feeling the sensation of her burning ear and hand.

BAM!

She looks up to see the one with the arms of the praying mantis fall forward in front of her. Behind him stood Erika, facing the other holding a shovel.

"Erika!" she yells, panicking. _Sweetheart! You don't have powers yet!_ She rose and began to search for a weapon.

Erika leaps toward the human bomb with the shovel, but it easily outmaneuvers her, pinning her to the ground. It prepares to smash her head just as it received a hit of glass jars of preserves from Mrs. Robinson. It reaches out, arms extending, and pushes her hard against the wall.

"MOM!" Erika screams, then coughs as the monster puts more weight against her chest. _I can't breathe!_ It pushes her harder and harder as she struggles to get out from under it. The world began to fade.

Just then, the monster lets her go, flying against the wall, knocking over an axe and severing the thing's head. Erika looks up to see Mew Ichigo and The Red Knight standing over her.

"Are you okay?" Mew Ichigo asks as she helps up her daughter.

"Yes," Erika takes her hand and rises, "Thank you."

"We need to hurry!" The Red Knight rushes them.

Dizzy, Erika reaches the front door just as she realizes Mrs. Robinson was still inside.

"MOM!" she turns around and starts to race back down to the cellar.

The Red Knight grabs her, "There's a bomb!"

"No!" Erika screams, "MOM!" she struggles against him, so Mew Ichigo helps pull her toward the exit.

"Emiko!" Mew Ichigo pleads, "We don't have time!"

They hear the explosion downstairs. Without a second thought, they push Erika as hard as they can through the front door. She lands outside, scraping her leg as she skid, watching Mew Ichigo and The Red Knight smile warmly at her as they became instantly engulfed in flames as the house explodes.

The scene didn't seem real. It didn't click in Erika's head. Even as she watched the smoke cloud rise and heard the wails of the other Mews, Knights, and Mirai no Mews and Knights that had arrived behind her, it didn't register. A crowd gathered, all mourning the loss.

Erika stood up, only inches away from charred earth.

_No._

It was her fault.

_No!_

The firemen desperately tried to quench the fire, but it blazed on.

_No!_

The golden transformation piece of the Ichigo rose in the sky.

_NO!_

It approached her, stopping before her and glowing brightly, causing a burning sensation in her inner thigh.

_NO!_

She looked at her thigh to reveal the sign of the Ichigo, etched in her skin.

_NOO!_

Her hands reach out, and the piece drops into them as she shakes her head back and forth.

_NOO!_

She hears familiar noises all around her. She turns to face the crowd. Though tears stain everyone's faces, they kneel toward her, many with the heads down, not in reverence, but to hide their disgust.

She looks for one face in the crowd. Once face that had never let her down. Once face that had promised it would always stand beside her. Evan. She found him, but as soon as he caught her glance, he turned away.

_NOOOOOOOO!_

Erika burst into tears, wailing the loudest of all and dropping to the ground. Everything. She'd lost everything. 

No comfort came. No rain fell to hide her tears.

She knelt there, alone.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Chapter 8: Flee**_

August came like it has ever year, with the typical rustle of fresh-pressed uniforms and overfilled bookbags.

In an instant, she had become the most secretly-despised Ichigo in history. It wasn't as though people treated her mean or didn't obey her, but she felt their deep set hatred. She hated herself for that day more than anyone, so she worked harder than ever to make up for it, knowing no matter what she accomplished, she'd never be able to fix her mistake.

She worked herself to the bone.

Eventually, Evan forgave her, but try as he might, he could never bring their relationship back to what it was. She had become a guarded shell, and he worried constantly for her.

One night, he saw a light flash outside of his window. He quickly ran to it, seeing a cloaked figure disappear under one of the trees. Thinking it was a criminal of some sort, he descended, transforming into The Red Knight.

To his surprise, it was Erika, and she was talking to a cyclops with raven-black wings. On its chest was the pin of the Dark Emperor. It grabbed her suitcases, and led her to a carriage that appeared to be floating on a black fog.

Erika lifts her foot to get on.

"Erika!" Evan could be silent no longer, "What are you doing?"

She turns to face him, sadness in her eyes, "I'm leaving."

He knew the next natural question was, "Why", but he knew why. He understood more than anyone, but still... "You're just going to run? Weren't you going to become the best Ichigo?"

She steps off and walks over to him. "Evan, I lost the chance to be the best Ichigo when I killed my father and mothers."

"It was an accident, Erika!" he tries, aware of the emptiness of his own words.

They stand there, staring at one another before she turns away, "Goodbye, Evan."

He grabs her arm, "Take me with you."

She faces him, sadness, but also resolve in her expression, "No. You stay here. Protect everyone. Take my place."

"I'm _your_ Knight, Erika. I _want_ to be with you."

She places her other hand on his face, "Evan, please. You've always been a great brother to me. Don't think I never noticed that, but this is the end." She jerks her hand out of his. "Go back. You don't belong with me."

"You're making a mis-" he feels a stronger kick than what he felt that other day. This one wasn't just meant to keep him still for 10 minutes. He looks up at her as the world turns black. He watches as she gets in the carriage and rides away, never looking back at him.

Blackness.

Evan wakes up in bed, the Mirai no Mews and Knights surrounding him. A nurse places a warm towel on his head.

He jerks up into a seated position, "Erika!"

"She's gone. She's abandoned us," the Mirai no Minto says simply.

Evan didn't feel like arguing. He tries to get up, but dizziness takes over. _Erika._

"Stay still. You aren't going anywhere anyway," the Mirai no Indigo Knight says as he points to Evan's arm.

Evan looks in that direction and finds himself handcuffed to the bed. He had just enough room to get to the bathroom, but not a bit more.

The Mirai no Purin adds. "Please understand we can't afford to lose you too."

The group leaves him to the nurse, and he lies back down again, staring out the window. _Erika..._

The next day would be the first of four years of days Evan wouldn't remember. Of course, there were battles, but he just followed everyone else to the battlefield, swinging his sword in hopes someone would swing theirs back at him to remind him that he could still feel pain.

Prom and homecoming went by too, but he didn't even remember if he went, much less if he went with someone.

Over those four years, the group hears nothing from Erika. There were a series of attacks specifically designed to take out the entire previous generation of Mews and Knights, giving all the powers to the younger generation, making everyone feel as though the Dark Emperor was playing with them, like a cat with a mouse.

In the absence of a Mew Ichigo, Mew Minto became the leader, and The Red Knight fought alongside the Indigo Knight as her support. He never could fight alongside one of the Mews or Knights per say because it was a well-known fact that he had become a shell since Erika's disappearance.

Even with the help of The Red Knight, everyone knew they would perish if the Dark Emperor decided to show himself. Still, all they could do was wait.

One day, they hear of an hold up over in Waukegan. The entire Mew team rushes to combat it along with their army.

When they arrive, they find hordes of hideous monsters standing behind a woman with long, dark red hair and wearing a black mask and black clothes. Her boots were thigh length and she welded a whip with long spikes in each hand. Protruding from underneath her mask were two markings like long red triangles under each eye. Her eyes glowed red.

As soon as the Mews and Knights arrived, she raises one hand, the signal for them to attack. The hordes storm forward, colliding with the army of the mews. A harsh battle ensues in which no side seems to be winning, but instead a giant masacre.

"Minto ARROW!"

The masked woman easily dodges the attack, barely paying Minto any attention.

Minto lands directly in front of her, changing into her Dark Minto form. She creates an ice sword and swings it at the woman, but she easily dodges it, appearing to laugh at Minto. Livid, Minto strikes faster and faster.

With one quick motion, Minto loses her sword to the masked woman's whips, and she finds herself tied on the ground. She struggles, but stops when she feels the spikes digging into her skin.

A noise approaches from the side. Her Knight. But the Knight is no match. He instantly finds himself disarmed with the other whip.

Behind!

The masked woman turns around, letting go of the whips and using her claws just as The Red Knight's sword comes crashing down toward her. Her claws cause the sword to stop just inches away from her face.

The Red Knight pulls back and strikes again, this time completely missing her as she vaults into the air. He swings again, and his sword meets her claws. Again and again he swings without injuring her. She begins to move toward the forest. He chases her, filled with determination.

Finally, she backs into a tree. She tries to escape right, but he slashes her escape route. The same happens above and to the left. He angles the sword to her neck and prepares to kill her, but she pulls off her mask.

_Erika!_

The hesitation is all she needs to escape. She leaps into the tree and hops from tree to tree. As she moves, he can see the tail of Ichigo flowing behind her. He breaks into a run. "Erika!"

But he loses her. Still, he continues on in the same direction. _I lost you once. I can't lose you again!_

Soon, he realizes he's lost. With nowhere to go but forward, he walks on until he finds himself at a small clearing. On the other side of the clearing is a little hole just big enough for him. He runs to it and peeks inside. It's dark. And the inside smelled like sulfur. He coughs twice and moves away.

He feels a drop on his face. He looks up to feel another. The sky begins to pour, forcing him to take shelter in that little opening. With nothing to do but wait for it to stop, he stretches out, expecting to feel the back with his feet. But, he doesn't. He turns around and feels for a back, but the hole keeps going.

He ventures farther and farther inside until he sees red lights up ahead. He soon reaches them and finds himself in a tall cave. The red lights were electric. _Someone lives down he-_

No sooner had he thought this than he saw a spiked club come toward him. He materializes his sword and cuts the club in half. Then, he sees another come at him, and he does the same. He looks around, and sees shapes, but he can't make them out. It was too dark. He moves closer to the red light, forcing the attackers to reveal themselves.

He finds ogres, trolls, and humans with the hands of beasts. _Henchmen of the Dark Emperor. _And he was surrounded.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Chapter 9: Ai**_

Just as he was about to be struck, he found himself in Erika's shadow, her arms outstretched in front of him.

"Disperse!" she commanded, and they scattered.

Suddenly, they made an opening through which a man in a white suit with blazing red hair walked through.

The Red Knight takes a peek past Erika. _The Dark Emperor! Himself! _He panics. _No one ever sees him and lives! _He looks at Erika. She hasn't moved, nor has she faltered. She stands there, staring at him in the face.

The Dark Emperor looks at Evan and raises an eyebrow. Then an smile that would send chills through a volcano appears on his face. He turns around and returns to wherever he came from.

Erika turns to him, livid, "Go home!" She points to the tunnel he had come through.

"No! I finally found you again!" he grabs her arm, but this time uses his other hand to block his chest.

She whirls faster than he'd ever seen anyone more before. He jerks back, letting her go as he feels her claws slash his arm, "I will kill you."

He stands there, arm bleeding badly. He looks in her eyes. They were colder than ice, but he didn't care. Not anymore, "Then kill me," he touches her hand, claws still extended and brings them close to his neck, "I died when you left. It would be a mercy." He looks her straight in the eye.

She raises her other clawed hand and he raises his neck to expose his jugular. He shuts his eyes, expecting to die, but instead, he feels her body against his. He feels her every sob as her tears soak his shirt.

"It's okay," he tells her, stroking her head as if they'd never been apart.

There, in that cave, she cries every tear she couldn't since the day her parents died. For so long, they just stood there.

Finally, Evan could take it no more. He puts his hand on her cheek and lifts up her face. Her red eyes watch him as he leans in, then closes as his lips touch hers. Their kiss becomes more and more passionate until they finds themselves in her room.

He pushes her onto her bed, the culmination of two decades of loving this woman burning within him.

He expected her to stop him, but she didn't.

The moonlight flows in, lighting the sheets over the two figures.

"Are you okay?" Evan asks her as they lay wrapped in only the sheets.

She looks up at him and nods.

He kisses her gently, "I love you."

She kisses his nose, then wraps her arms around him and snuggles close, "I am glad you came."

Evan's heart jumps. For the first time in his life, Evan felt complete.

Evan awakens to the sound of Erika getting dressed. He turns over and watches her, still unable to believe that they were finally together.

Evan rises, walking over to her and putting his arms around her. He kisses her.

"Evan..." she starts, "Come on now, I'm late for my meeting."

He lets her go, disappointed.

She quickly puts on the rest of her black and red outfit, dons her mask, and heads out the door.

He plops himself on the bed for only a second before quickly dressing himself before leaving to explore. Though he had traveled these halls last night, he was too captivated by Erika to pay attention to them.

He stares at one of the lights in the hall. Odd enough, in this cave-like place, there was electricity. He hears a sound coming from down the hall and finds himself staring at a two-foot rat with red, beady eyes, sharp teeth, and monstrous claws. It ignores Evan as it passes, claws making a clink clink sound all the way.

Evan continues on, reaching a fork. He looks forward, then to the left, then to the right. _A person could get lost in here..._ He thinks. He walks a couple feet down each, listening in hopes of hearing Erika.

Figuring it didn't matter, he choses the corridor on the right, quickly finding himself at a staircase. He travels down about a hundred steps along a winding staircase. The farther he goes, the more water he sees dripping along the walls. He continues his decent until he rounds a corner and finds a thin, long bridge with underground rapids on each side, complete with sharp rocks and a waterfall.

He looks as far ahead as he can and sees no one else on the bridge, so he ventures forward. The ground was covered in some sort of rubber to keep one from slipping, but that didn't make him feel much better. He looks down on his right and sees the waves crash against one of the stones.

Finally, he makes it to the other side. As he exits the inner cavern, he finds himself in what appears to be an underground city. There were houses made of stone everywhere and all types of humans and monsters. _No wonder we never found their hideout..._

He found himself on the center road, and about half a mile out, as best he could tell, was something akin to a castle. He walks toward it, trying to ignore the stares and hisses around him.

Eventually, he makes it to the castle and stands outside, not sure if he should enter, but then he hears Erika's voice coming from an open window almost directly above him.

It takes all of his might to open the door, but finally he enters. The castle was barren and covered in cobwebs as if it were the main theme of the décor. It looked just like a haunted house.

BOOM!

A sound rings out behind him.

BOOM! 

Evan turns around to see a giant walking toward the castle.

BOOM!

Evan shuts the door and races up the stairs, heart racing.

Upstairs, he peeks out in front of the castle, and sighs when he sees the giant turn and head away.

_Heh. Not like he'd destroy the castle..._he laughs to himself, common sense returning. He looks around at this upper hall and finds himself standing on a carpet the color of blood. Not the bright red color of blood that has been wiped, but the deep red color that comes out from a gash. It was nearly sickening against the charcoal black walls.

The fluttering of wings.

He instinctively prepares for a fight, but lowers his guard when he sees a crow staring at him from the top of a statue. Before he had time to wonder how it got in, it flew toward him, growing in size, then taking the shape of a man with black wings. It snickers at him, knowing Evan didn't belong.

Once the creature had passed, Evan continues on until he reaches the room where he had heard Erika's voice. He puts his ear to the door.

"We attack here!" one deep, gruff voice says. "They'll never expect we'd start with Mew Mansion."

"Are you an idiot?" another pipes in. "That's the first place anyone with a brain would expect! Start here, the center of the city. Then we can fa-"

Everything goes quiet.

Evan pulls back and steps backward just as the door opens revealing the Dark Emperor. He looks at Evan, his eyes boring into him.

With one look, Evan knew he didn't have a chance. He stares at the man, petrified.

Just then, Erika walks out, glaring at Evan, "What are you doing here?" she demands.

"I wanted to join you," he ventures.

She sighs and motions for the others to go inside. They all do. She walks over to Evan, still glaring.

"I'm sorry! I'll go back!" he starts. She doesn't move. Evan turns around and starts down the hall, then he turns back. "Why didn't the Dark Emperor kill me?"

"Because he's never met you," Erika replies.

"Wasn't that him?"

"No, that was his proxy. The temporary duplicate of his body and goals," she sees Evan's confused expression and sighs again, putting a hand on her forehead, "The Dark Emperor lives forever because he time travels. He comes back every 25 years, and the last time he was here was a year before I left, which means he's due in another 20 years or so. Until then, he sets a proxy to make sure his goals are enacted in his absence. Though, the proxy does have a few key limitations..." she finishes. Realizing she had strayed from her original goal, she stretches out her arm, pointing to the exit.

Evan leaves the castle.


	10. Chapter 10

_**Chapter 10: Darkness to Light. Light to Darkness.**_

Several months later it was time to mount another attack against the Mews. Evan stood next to Erika as she stood before the troops of the Dark Emperor. Intelligence had delivered the message that the Mews were close to creating a serum that would give them power over the wilder types, like the diclonius and the fire dragon. Assuming the intel was good, this needed to be destroyed or these types could horribly dampen the efforts of those loyal to the Dark Emperor.

Evan looks up at Erika. Over the last few months, he had stood beside her many times, but he knew today was different. Though she stood tall, he could tell she was in pain. He also knew not to speak to her before a battle.

So many things had changed with Erika since the accident that sometimes Evan felt like she was a different person. Other times, she clung to his sleeve, destroying his worries and making his heart race just as she always had. He watches as her long hair blows in the wind.

He himself was no longer in the outfit of The Red Knight, but wearing his own version of black and red leather. He felt as though he had no right to wear it as long as he was on this side.

Part of him had hopes of returning to the side of the Mews and Knights, but he was trying to resign himself to the fact that he could never go back. It wasn't he, per say, that couldn't return. That all depended on the Mews and Knights who knew that he intended to follow Erika to the ends of the earth. But, Erika would surely never be considered. Therefore, he tried to resign himself to his fate of dying as a servant of the Dark Emperor. All that mattered was Erika.

Erika let out a high-pitched sound and was answered in kind by the entire unit. Everyone broke into a run, racing toward Mew Mansion under the cover of the thick forest. Evan ran beside Erika, toe to toe.

A grunt.

He turns to look at her, and he sees her teeth gritted together, but he doesn't have time to do anything. Almost immediately, he hears the trumpet of Mew Mansion call all the guards and students to attention.

They pass a few more trees before they see a swarm of flying creatures, most of which Evan recognized. A shower of bombs began to descend toward them.

They reach the ground, the loud explosion merging with the cries of the hit.

Several come close to Erika and Evan, but they easily outmaneuver the blasts and head toward the lab.

Just as they are about to leave the forest, a bomb falls right before them and explodes, knocking them back. They fall hard, but Evan quickly rises with nothing more than scratches. He turns to Erika, but she lies there, grasping her stomach and cringing. Evan checks her out for injuries, but he sees nothing but small scratches from the fall.

"Erika!" he reaches out to her and she slaps his hand away as she tries to rise to her feet. She stands for only a few seconds before dropping a knee, still clutching her stomach. She doubles over and vomits.

Evan puts an arm out for her to grab, and reluctantly, she accepts it, after almost losing her balance. She collapses in his arms, the sound of bombs exploding around them. Evan clutches her close and carries her away from the battle.

_What do we do? No one will give medical care to us! _

She throws up once again, then leans back against the tree. She looks over at Evan who is panicking. She smiles at him weakly. "Stop worrying. I'm fine." she says.

"How do you know? We need to get you to a doctor!"

She touches his arm lightly, "I'm pregnant, Evan."

He freezes. _Pregnant? As in... Erika and I made a baby? _He stares at her, "I'm going to be a dad." he says, scarcely able to believe it.

He grabs her hands, "What were you doing leading an army while pregnant!"

"I figured I had a few more weeks before I had to stop," she answers. "Guess not."

Evan breathes a sigh of relief and kisses her forehead, "Lets get you back to the cave."

Months later they find themselves commandeering a gynecologist's office whole Erika gets an ultrasound. She had insisted on going in alone, but considering the doctor couldn't leave without coming face to face with about a hundred hideous creatures, they let her go.

A half hour later, she came out with a black and white photograph of their child.

"Is it a boy or girl," the first question came out of Evan's mouth.

"Boy," Erika answered, pointing to a spot on the photo, "See?"

Evan and several of the beasts take a peek, "Ahh..." they say.

Erika passes around the photo. Finally, a troll says what all of them were thinking, "How can you tell? It just looks like a bunch of shapes."

She hears a murmur through the group in agreement as they stare at the photo again.

Erika just smiles.

When they return, Erika goes straight to her quarters, Evan following behind her. She takes a seat on the bed.

"I wish I could have been in there with you," Evan remarks as he takes a seat next to her. "How was it? Did she say he's healthy?"

"That would be too embarrassing..." Erika leans against his shoulder, "Our baby's fine. He'll grow up to be strong."

Evan watches her expression. It was as if she wasn't looking at the present, but the future. He puts his arm around her.

She looks up at him, "We should give the child to the Mews to raise."

Evan's expression saddens, but he nods, "This is no place for a baby." _It's no place for us..._ His mind goes to all the things he'd seen since he'd been there. The torture of captured guards loyal to the Mews for information and experiments on kidnapped citizens. He wanted to reveal the location of this place to the Mews so badly, but he didn't want to be separated from Erika. So, he stayed, turning a blind eye to every horror in this dark, damp underground.

3 months later, Erika sat on her bed eating breakfast. By now, her tummy was huge, and she was due any day. During the first months or so, the leaders would stop by to see her, but after reporting it was a boy, they stopped visiting her. Without their leading general, the attacks had gone horribly, causing them to become impatient. For a while, Evan was hearing talks of forcing her to have an abortion, but he quickly put an end to that idea with the explanation that an abortion could cause her to lose the ability to have another child, namely the Mirai no Ichigo they were waiting for.

CRASH!

Evan turns away from buttering more toast to face the source of the noise.

"Sorry," Erika says. "My hand slipped."

Orange juice and glass were all over the floor. Erika starts to get up to deal with it, but Evan motions for her to stay in bed. He grabs towels, a broom, and a dust pan, and quickly has it all cleaned up.

"Evan," Erika starts, "I am having a craving right now for tonkatsu."

"But you don't even like pork."

"Sorry, I just _really_ want tonkatsu."

"I don't know how to make that."

"You could buy it from Mitsuwa."

"That's all the way in Arlington Heights! It's about an hour from here..."

"Sorry, I'm asking too much."

Evan sighs, "You really want tonkatsu?"

"Mmm hmm," she responds, putting on her cute face.

Evan's heart beats faster, "Okay." He throws away the paper towels and broken glass, grabs his coat, and heads out the door.

Erika convulses. She stifles a cry with her hand. Then she grabs a timer. _The contractions are coming __so fast now!_

She quickly fills her tub with water, leaning over the side. The water couldn't fill it fast enough. She breathes heavily as she flinches hard again. She feels her water break. _Come on! Come on!_ She says toward the faucet. Eventually, it was full enough to get in. Almost immediately, she feels the baby start to be born. Not long afterward, she lets out her final scream, grasping the sides of the tub rather than stifling in. Less than a minute later, she sat in the water, holding her child.

She stands up, cleaning the baby in the sink before dressing it in a diaper and a blue one-piece. She clutches the child closely. As she walks over to the bed. With the child in one hand, she uses the other to write a note.

"_Minto,_

_This is Eron..."_

Just as Erika puts the finishing touches on the letter, she hears bustling outside. _They must have heard my scream._ She folds up the letter and places it in an envelope, sealing it.

Choosing to ignore them, she sets her attention on the sleeping child. Erika lightly touches the baby's cheek. _You're so soft... _she thinks.

It seemed as though she hardly had any time with her newborn before Evan returned. She heard him blurt out a few, "excuse me"'s to get through to their door. When he opened it, Erika could see some of those that had gathered outside. He shuts the door behind him.

He walks straight over to the baby, picking up the newborn and handing Erika her food.

Erika smiles.

"So tiny," Evan remarks, touching the newborn's little wisps of hair.

After a half hour or so, Erika hands him the sealed letter. He nods sadly to her, then takes the letter, grabbing a blanket for the baby. Erika rises, kissing her child once more, her eyes tearing up.

Evan walks through the doorway with Eron and shuts the door behind him.

Erika begins to cry.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Chapter 11: Mirai**_

Carol, the current Mew Minto, lay in bed next to her husband, the Knight, staring at the ceiling, her stomach slightly protruding in pregnancy. She lay there thinking the same thing she had been thinking for years. Ever since the disappearance of Erika, she had been wracking her brain, trying to find the location of the hideout of the Dark Emperor. She'd searched everywhere, even with bloodhounds, but for some reason, no one could find it.

She covers her face with her arm. Every other leader had been able to find it and had always mounted an attack that caused them to flee elsewhere. _But every previous leader was the Ichigo..._ Until these last few years, she never wanted to be an Ichigo. She was content to play her part supporting the Ichigo. But, she knew they were just sitting ducks should the Dark Emperor choose to attack. And there was nothing she could do about it.

A noise.

She jerks up in her bed and comes face to face with a man in black and red, his sword at her neck.

_How did he get in here?_ She thinks, but soon learns the answer to her own question when her eyes adjust to see Evan. She catches his desperate, but determined glance.

"Evan!" she whispers, careful not to wake The Indigo Knight.

He lowers his sword and puts a finger over his mouth, motioning for her to be quiet as he crouches before her. He opens his cape revealing the newborn. He kisses the child before handing the baby over to Minto. Before she can ask any questions, he hands her the letter.

She opens it and reads it, nodding.

Evan rises and heads toward the window.

Carol wanted to say something as she watches him escape. She wanted to ask him to stay, but she knew he would refuse. As long as Erika was out there, so would he be. When she turns around, she finds her husband sitting up in the bed.

She smiles, somehow not surprised that he was awake the whole time.

"YAH!" Eron plants a kick square into the Mirai no Yellow Knight's chest. He falls backward, hard.

"Woah!" the gym teacher stands between Eron and the Mirai no Yellow Knight, stopping the exhibition. He nods at Eron who grabs a towel and a water bottle and heads toward the locker room bearing a scowl.

The Mirai no Purin helps up the Mirai no Yellow Knight. "You okay?" she asks.

"Yeah," he says, coughing. "Just got the wind knocked out of me a bit." he turns toward the direction Eron had gone. He looks toward the Mirai no Minto. "You're brother is outrageously strong." he comments.

"I know," the Mirai no Minto responds. "Too bad he's so unfriendly."

"Yeah..." the Mirai no Zakuro starts, "I confessed to him, and he turned me down. Me of all people!" she flips her hair. "He's such a bishounen...and no one can put a scratch on him...He would have made the perfect Knight..." she goes into her "dreamy" mode.

"He doesn't know what he's missing," the Mirai no Retasu concludes.

As if on cue, a siren wails.

"We're under attack! Mirai no Mews and Knights! Head to the shelter! Everyone else, move out!" the gym teacher calls.

The Mirai no Mews and Knights gather with their siblings and race down the hall and around the corner passing students rushing toward the gym to get into fighting formation. They arrive at a large metal door and quickly set to open it.

An explosion echoes through the corridor followed by a loud scream. They hear the panicked voices of the students and the growl of an unknown intruder.

"Got it!" the Mirai no Purple Knight says as he pulls open the door and everyone except Eron begins to rush inside. Eron stood there, facing the source of the noise, feeling every horrid crack of each student's bones.

"Come on, Eron!" the Mirai no Purple Mew yells. "Get in!"

Eron faces her, and she freezes. "Eron..." she knew there was no chance Eron would join them. She watches as Eron takes off down the hall toward the ruckus.

"What are you doing! Shut the-" Mew Minto starts to yell, but stops. "Where's Eron?"

Her face fills with horror as the Mirai no Purple Knight replies, "He went to save the students."

Without another word, she pushes the Mirai no Purple Knight and Mew roughly inside and slams the door behind them. She then takes off down the hall after Eron.

Eron arrives to one of the most gruesome scenes possible. Students were crying out in pain for death, yet others still arrived to the scene, determined to protect the hideout of the Mirai no Mews and Knights. The situation made Eron's blood boil.

"Get out of the way!" Eron yells.

"But sir-"

"MOVE!"

They step back, prepared to step in at any moment.

Eron faces the tormentor, a masked woman with dark red hair, scarlet eyes, and black leather clothes. In her hands were whips, blood dripping from attached spikes. The students' blood. The blood of those now crying out for relief from their fatal wounds. Wrapped in the whips of her left hand was a student, feeling the spikes move deeper into her skin with every breath.

Eron and the masked woman stare at one another. Eron could feel a surge of energy rise from within, but couldn't move. The student's life depended on it.

The masked woman watches Eron's gaze. Her eyes narrow as she tightens her whips and the student begins to breathe heavily.

Eron flinches, but doesn't move.

"H-help!" she calls out, barely audible.

The masked woman begins to move her hand again.

"Wait!" Eron calls out. "Take me! Spare her and you can have me!"

Rage fills the masked woman's face. In one instant, she tightens her whips and the students' breathing stops. She then flings the lifeless body over to Eron.

Eron looks first at the body, then at her, "Do you know who I am? Am I not worth more than her? You could have had me!" rage churns through Eron's body and becomes energy.

The masked woman smiles.

Eron looks to the left and finds a hatchet near a fire hose. Within seconds, the battle had begun.

Eron races toward her, hatchet in hand. The masked woman doesn't move a muscle. Students watch as Eron swings hard, but the woman easily dodges the attack. Another swing, another dodge. With each swing, Eron becomes more and more filled with rage.

Suddenly, Eron feels himself trip. He looks down just in time to see his foot stuck behind the body of one of the students. He falls on top of the boy and lands face to face, his lifeless eyes staring back, still etched with terror. Eron feels his eyes sting with tears as he looks up at his opponent, who was staring back, not moving a muscle. Eron brings himself to his feet and lunges again. He can feel his form getting sloppy as his eyes become too filled with tears to see.

He wanted one hit to connect with this woman. One hit wasn't enough, but one hit, to give her just a piece of the pain all these young students with hopes and dreams felt as she masacred them. One hit. But every time she dodged.

Eron trips again, skinning his knee on broken glass. He looks up at her, "Why are you playing with me! Aren't you going to kill me just like them? You could have! This whole time you could ha-"

"ERON!" Minto's voice calls out.

Eron turns to face her for a second, then turns back to his opponent, but she wasn't there. Eron rises and looks around, but sees nothing. He clenches his fists.

Minto approaches and lays a hand on his shoulder, but he pulls away from it. She looks into Evon's eyes and pulls back a bit herself when she sees his rage. "Evon?" she says softly.

Evon turns to her with an expression that made her heart stop.

"I will kill her."

"Evon, honey-"

"No, Minto. I will kill her. She killed my friends and made fun of me in our fight. I will kill that heartless b-h. I will tear every limb from her body."

"Evon!" Minto grabs his arm, but finds herself pushed away. She grabs him again, and he tries to break free. "No!" she starts. "You can't let your mind be consumed by hatred! Please! Trust me! It only breeds more-"

"Let. Me. Go." He pushes her hard, then walks toward Mew Mansion.


	12. Chapter 12

_**Chapter 12: Debajo**_

Erika enters the hideout and removes her mask accompanied by a legion of monsters scattering like cockroaches.

"Welcome back," Evan says, standing against the wall.

Erika gives him a nonchalant waive and heads to her quarters where a fabulous meal complete with candles awaits. Evan pulls out her chair and helps her to sit down. He then takes his own seat across from her.

They eat in silence, candlelight dancing across their faces.

After the meal, Erika steps into the bathroom as Evan begins to clean up.

He could hear it. The same routine. He could hear her as she unzipped her costume and turned on the water. He could see her shadow as she washed the blood from her hair.

He grabs a plate as his brow furrows. His hand grips tightly around it.

Erika hears a crash from the bathroom. She walks out, completely naked and finds Evan standing there, lifeless, his hand dripping with blood, pieces of the broken plate on the floor.

"Don't stain the carpet," she says as she walks back into the bathroom and shuts the door.

Evan walks over to her nightstand and grabs a handful of tissues. He sets to cleaning up the mess, then he dresses his hand. By the time Erika exits, her nightgown had been set on the bed and Evan was lying on his side of the bed.

He listens as she walks over, puts on the nightgown, and slips between the covers. Soon, he hears her begin to breathe deeply.

Evan clenches his fist and feels his wounds reopen. He wanted to leave. He wanted to go back to the way things were. He thought he'd be happy if he could just be with her, but he was so miserable he wanted to die. He'd already killed countless people just to stay by her side. At this point, there was no where else for him to go. He was already called the Demon of the Underworld.

In the beginning, things were better. Sometimes, they would act like a loving couple. But, after the birth of their second child, a girl, who was being raised at the emperor's castle as the Mew Ichigo, he realized she was just using him to create the heir. Still, he loved her. Still, he would die for her if she asked. Sometimes, he wished she would ask.

(At the school)

"AHHH!" a tall senior flies back and lands hard on the mat.

"NEXT!" Eron calls out. He looks around and sees no one come forward. "Come on! Won't anyone fight me?"

No response.

He grabs a towel, wipes his head, and throws it on the ground, then he stomps out, letting the gym door slam behind him as he stomps through the hall muttering, "Weaklings! Is there no one strong enough to bring me to that woman's level?"

"ERON!"

He whirls around to face that senior, "What?"

He stops and steps back, blushing. "Um... I was wondering... I..." he rubs the back of his neck. "I've never asked a guy this before... but you... I don't kno-"

"Not interested," Eron whirls around and continues down the hall.

"Wait! Is it because I'm a guy? I mean, this is new for me too! I've never-"

Eron faces him, "My problem is not your gender. It's you."

The senior stops, shocked.

"Now, if you'll excuse me," Eron continues down the hallway.

A few moments later, Eron hears a voice.

"That wasn't very nice."

Eron whirls around to find a knife against his throat. He flinches as he is pushed hard against the lockers. He looks into the attacker's face. It was a handsome youth in goth dress. The two stare at one another.

Finally, Eron starts. "What do you want?"

"Nothing. Just to beat the strongest guy in school," he responds.

"Well, this is cheating. If you want to beat me, you'll have to face me properly."

"Why? Aren't we supposed to be preparing for real life? If I wanted to kill you, you would be dead right now."

Eron tries to jerk free, but his grasp is too strong.

Eron's eyes narrow in defiance. "Ah. I see. You can't beat me unless you sneak up on me. You're a coward."

The goth boy chuckles. "Does it bother you to lose so easily? Does it bother you to lose to me?" he leans in closer and stares at her with his beautiful green eyes.

Without waiting a second, Eron leans in and their lips lock. The boy pulls back, stumbling, giving Eron just enough time to break free and get ready to fight.

He wipes his lips frantically, then freezes. He looks at Eron, impressed. "Nice." he smiles. "But, it won't make any difference. I'll only capture you again."

"I'd love to see you try."

The youth smiles. "Here," he tosses Eron his knife, then pulls out another. "This time, I'll face you on equal terms." he narrows his eyes. "And I'll still win."

"Bring it."


	13. Chapter 13

_**Chapter 13: Proxima Nivel**_

Eron lunges toward him, knife in hand, approaching at top speed.

_Look at that sloppy defense..._ Eron thinks as he comes within a few feet. He winds up for the strike, but-

"Ah!" Eron jumps back, clutching his arm. He watches as blood begins to seep out. _How did he-_ Eron looks up just in time to avoid an onslaught of strikes, each time coming closer and closer to his body.

_Ow!_ The last strike grazed Eron's leg. He takes a huge leap to get out of the youth's line of attack. He soars near the ceiling, using his good arm to swing along the bars in the ceiling. He looks down to gage his opponent.

_He's gone! _Eron looks frantically around.

"Behind you," a sinister voice whispers just before Eron feels the worst pain of his life. Then, darkness.

Bright light.

Eron rolls over on his side and groans. He puts a hand to the back of his head and flinches when he feels a large bump. Eyes still closed, he tries to lift himself up, but crumbles back down, cradling the injured limb.

_Bandages?_

Eron opens his eyes to find himself in the nurse's office. He groans again and raises up on his good arm.

"Oh!" Eron hears a voice not unlike nails on a chalkboard, "You're awake!" A cute, plump woman approaches him and proceeds to take his blood pressure. "Quite the nasty battle you had there, eh?"

_Oh yeah... that freshman... _Eron stews there silently as the nurse busies herself taking vitals.

Eron looks around. He had sent countless people to the nurse and even more to the hospital, but he'd never been there himself. The defeat was mortifying. But, nothing was worse than the battle with that masked woman, the one known as Hell's Witch. Eron squeezes his fists so tightly his nails dig into his palms and he begins to shake. He had to find that boy.

When Eron left the nurse's office, he knew the news of his defeat had traveled the school. Students who wouldn't dare to be in the same room as him whispered to their friends while giving him side glances. Eron clutches his arm.

After searching the entire school, Eron finds him lying down on the roof with a book over his head.

"Enjoying your defeat?" he asks, not removing the book.

Silence.

"I know it's you," the teenager adds. He hears a strange sound on the ground, so he removes his book and turns around. Near the door about 10 meters away was Eron, kneeling to the ground toward him, palms dripping blood from his nails. He was shaking, every part of his body against kneeling to this transfer student. This underclassman. The only one who could bring Eron closer to the level of Hell's Witch.

"Woah... This school must have some strange cus-"

"Please train me!" Eron blurts out, head to the ground, shaking even more violently.

"I don't train people. Find someone else," he lies back down and places the book on his head. "Besides, aren't you one of those Mew's kids?"

"I can't find anyone else! I've already beaten everyone. I've even surpassed the level of the Mews," Eron raises her head to face him. "But I need to get stronger."

"So you can be the strongest in the school? Nah. I like that title. I think I'll hold onto it-"

"Do you think I would be here kneeling to you like this if that's all I wanted!" Eron starts. "I have bigger things to deal with than some school title."

The freshman lets the book fall off of his face. He then rolls over to face Eron. The two stare at each other in silence for several minutes.

"OK," he finally says. "I'll train you."

"Thank you!" Eron bows again deeply.

"Every morning. 4AM."

"I understand! Thank you!" Eron rises. "Um, would you please tell me your name?"

"Damian," he says. "And everyone knows you, Eron."

Eron bows once more. "Thank you, Damian."

"It's Sensei."

"Thank you, Sensei." Eron races off of the roof and onto the staircase.

Just as his foot reached the first stair, a loud sound rattles the school, causing the stairs to crack. Eron falls down a couple stairs, catching himself. He stands up and finishes moving to the main level where once again, the students are preparing to assist the army in the battle.

Eron starts to round a corner toward the main exit, but stops.

"Find the Mirai no Mews, Knights, and their siblings! We must get them into the safe area!"

Eron slinks into a nearby classroom instead. Inside, he knew he should go with the others, but he had to see Hell's Witch once more. For some reason, when he appeared, the masacre of the students stopped. He had to know why.

He didn't have to wait long.

As if was waiting for him, an explosion rang out behind him, scattering wooden beams and shards of glass everywhere. Eron screams as some of the glass enters his arm.

When the explosion clears, Eron finds Hell's Witch accompanied by the only one who was said to be her equal in battle, the Demon of the Underworld.

The masked woman doesn't waste a second. She comes charging at Eron at mach speed.

Eron grabs one of the scattered boards and swings, missing her by a mile. He falls back cradling his injured arm.

Eron watches as for a moment, both villains freeze. _They're staring at my arm..._ Eron thinks. The pause only lasts a few seconds before they attack again. Eron races out of the classroom and down the hall.

He felt like a coward, running past students who were readying themselves to enter battle, but the way he was now, he could barely swing a stick, much less defend himself against the two generals of the Dark army.

_Why didn't I just go with the others! Why! _

Even as he ran, he hated himself. He hated himself for running. He hated himself for not being strong enough. He hated himself to getting injured while fighting Damian. He wanted to turn around more than anything. To make these two suffer for the death of his classmates, but he couldn't. He was powerless, and useless.

He looks back and finds the army in the direction he had come. He stops and turns back, feeling the mocking glances of the students around him.

_I can't take this anymore. I'm going to make it so no one will ever lay a scratch on me again. And then, I will kill you both._


	14. Chapter 14

_**Chapter 14: You**_

CLANG!

The sound of swords echoes through the gym.

CLANG! CLANG!

"Use your hips in your swing," Damian coaches.

CLANG!

"Like... THIS?" Eron responds putting his whole body into a strike.

CLANG!

It pushes Damian back, but he easily defends. "Yeah."

The two go back and forth ignoring the stares and whispers of passersby. Both were dripping with sweat from 3 straight hours of training.

Finally, Damian raises his hand and sets down his weapon. "Let's stop here," he grabs a bottle of water, and Eron follows suit. The sun shines through a window into his eye, and he puts a hand on his brow. He turns to Eron, watching him gulp down the water. He was surprisingly skinny with golden skin and exotic, dark hair.

Truth be told, he was disappointed when he first met the one who was considered the most skilled fighter in the county in the prestigious Chicago chapter of Mew Academy. But after seeing Eron work so hard every single morning for the last month, Damian found a new respect for the bishounen. Never had he seen so much focus and dedication.

Eron places a towel on his head and rubs hard. _Why did I run?_ He grills himself for the hundredth time. By now, the wound on his arm had healed, but was replaced by an even deeper one in his heart. Every time he looked in the mirror, he saw a filthy coward. Every last person he had passed in the hallway that day died. Eron had made a point of paying respects at every one of their funerals, but this only intensified the guilt.

He stops rubbing the towel and pulls it down around his neck. No one who saw him run was alive, but he knew. He knew that the last time he engaged Hell's Witch, her attack stopped. _But I ran... It's my fault they're dead..._

His thoughts were interrupted by the first bell. With a start, he remembers where he is and turns to face Damian, who had gathered all their equipment and was folding their practice mat.

_He will help me get closer. And once I kill Hell's Witch and the Demon of the Underworld..._Eron clenches his fist around the towel.

After a few moments, Eron relaxes his grip and watches Damian as he neatly prepares the mat for packing. His thoughts go back to their kiss. He touches his lips lightly, then shakes his head violently. _What am I thinking? I don't have time for this!_

"Thanks for the lesson!" Eron yells as he runs toward the showers.

Eron enters one of the stalls of the private Mew and Knight shower suite and lets the steam engulf him. The water runs down his hair and into his eyes.

He takes a deep breath and lets it out in a sigh.

Prior to his first encounter with Hell's Witch, his only thought was proving he was worthy to be adopted by a mew. No one really knew why Mew Minto and the Indigo Knight chose Eron to be their child out of so many other orphans, but he was grateful for the opportunity. Still, even as an adopted member of the prestigious Mew clan, he felt the expectation to excel.

But, after looking into the eyes of the one who killed his friends, those who had come to Mew Academy to pursue their dreams of giving their lives to protecting others, all his thoughts shifted to killing her. Until now.

His thoughts flashed to Damian. He replays the moment where their swords collide, his muscles flexing, and his stance revealing his perfectly-carved abs.

Eron shakes his head violently and kneels down to the floor, bowing his head so the water can pound against it. He looks blankly at the ground.

_I can't fall in love... I have a mission... I must..._

His heart pounds as he remembers their first encounter. The encounter with the only one in the whole school who could beat him.

_I wonder how he feels about me..._

He cups his hands to his hot ears, a mixture of anger at the thought and embarrassment.

_I can't let this happen..._

He stays in that position a while longer before getting up to get ready for class, determined to kill any thoughts of a romance with Damian.

After the final bell of the day, Eron exits criminal psychology class and heads toward his locker, his typical scowl etched deeply on his face. As with every day since he'd started training with Damian, his muscles burned like fire. Still, he willed himself to walk with all the grace the school knew him for.

Just as he rounds the final corner to the locker hall, he collides into someone's chest, dropping his books.

"DO YOU WANNA DIE!" Eron yells angrily, voice echoing through the hall, then looks up to find himself face to face with Damian. Eron steps back, tripping over his books. He braces himself for the fall, but instead feels arms catching him and pulling him up again.

"You okay?" Damian asks.

"I-I…" Eron feels his heart beating rapidly. He looks around and sees stares and mouths agape on every person. Embarrassment grips him, and he feels his face turn hot.

With one quick motion, he punches Damian, sending him reeling back, clutching his stomach.

"I didn't ask for your help!" Eron responds, collecting his books and rushing away, hoping no one could see his blush.

He stops at his locker and mindlessly enters the combination. After three failed attempts, he punches it, leaving a dent. He could hear whispers all around him. He couldn't hear everything they were saying, but the words "Eron" and "Damian" came through loud and clear.

He rests his head on his locker for a couple seconds, trying to slow his heartbeat.

After a few minutes, he opens his locker, packs his bookbag, slams the door, and exits the building.

_Mew Mansion_

Eron bursts through the Mew Mansion main door, shocking Mew Minto, Mew Ratasu, and the Purple Knight. He quickly bows in apology and heads toward the staircase.

"Sweetie?" Mew Minto calls out, "Is everything ok?"

Eron reaches the staircase and turns around, putting on a fake smile just as tears begin to fall. "Yeah, Mom. I'm fine." Realizing his tears had betrayed him, he turns and races up the stairs.

"Eron! Eron!" Minto calls as he reaches the top and runs down the hall.

Minto turns to the others, "I'm sorry. I-"

"Hurry! Go!" Retasu interjects.

Minto ascends the stairs after Eron and arrives at his closed door. She hears deep sobs coming from inside, and knocks gently. "Eron, darling? May I come in?"

"Why? It's because of you I'm so miserable. What could you possibly want to say to me?"

"Baby…" Minto doesn't continue for several minutes, trying to stifle her own sobs.

After a while she speaks, voice quivering. "I'm so sorry…"

"If you're sorry, why can't I live like a normal person!" Eron yells. "WHY!"

"Oh Eron… I am so sorry!"

"You never tell me anything! You never give me any reasons! I'm dying like this, Minto! I can't take this anymore!"

Minto hears crashing from inside. Worried, she bursts through the door to find Eron, eyes bloodshot red and body quivering with each sob, staring at a broken lamp. She runs over and hugs her child, weeping with him. "I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry…" Eron wraps his arms around her.

_At the Gym_

"Ah!" Eron exclaims, falling backwards onto the floor.

That morning had been hell. Damian was clearly angry about yesterday's punch. Eron definitely had two times the typical amount of bruises to prove it, and practice wasn't even half over. Part of him wanted to cry out for mercy, but the rest of him knew Damian had saved Eron, and he humiliated him in front of the school… So, he decided to wait out Damian's fury.

Eron stands up and readies himself again, wiping a string of blood from his mouth.

Damian prepares to strike, but stops, throwing the stick. He runs his fingers through his sweaty hair, appearing to be deep in thought.

Eron stares at him, perplexed. It was the first time he had ever seen Damian stumped about anything.

Suddenly, he stops. He turns to Eron and walks toward him. Eron steps back, eventually finding himself pinned against a wall.

"Damian… What are you-"

Eron feels his lips against his own. The sensation was frightening, yet like ecstasy. Suddenly, nothing else mattered.

The kiss went deeper and deeper. More and more passionate until they found themselves sprawled out on the gym floor. No one would even be there for another hour.

Eron wraps his arms around Damian, letting himself get lost in the moment.

Damian's hands start on Eron's waist, moving gently up his ribs.

Panic shoots through Eron, but it is too late.

Damian pulls away, staring down on Eron. He sighs, full of disappointment. "I knew it."

Eron looks up at him, on the verge of tears.

"I knew you were too light to be a man."


	15. Chapter 15

Damian sighs again as he rises. He raises one hand to his head and scratches, almost not wanting to believe it.

Eron clutches her chest, feeling violated by the man she had been falling in love with. She opens her mouth to speak, but only tears come forth.

Damian looks at her, "What the hell is wrong with you!"

Eron's mouth drops in disbelief. "What is wrong with me! You just fondled my breasts to find out if I was a girl!"

Damian rolls his eyes, "You've been lying to the entire student body about your gender, for some reason unbeknownst to me, and you are worried about that..." Eron stands up and Damian takes a step closer to her, causing her to step back.

"What?"

Damian places a hand beneath her chin, lifting her face so he can get a better look. "I can't believe I never noticed..."

Eron tries to slap him, but he grabs her hand in mid air, staring her down. "Just like a girl."

They stay like that a few seconds before she jerks her hand away.

The ends of Damian's mouth turn up like a grin. "Your secret gets exposed and you, previously the strongest in the school, have become as predictable _and weak _as a first year student."

Eron glares at him, bringing her hands into a fighting stance.

"You'll never be able to beat me," he taunts as she lunges forward.

She swings her right fist first, aiming toward his face, but misses by a mile. Then, her left. _Why? I usually get within a few centimeters! Why!_

True to his teaching style, Damian answers her unasked questions, "I know how tightly your breasts have to be bound so you can appear to be male. That type of pressure holds back the movement of your spine. If you ever want to beat me, your torso must be free to move as needed." He throws a jab that hits her ribs and causes her to reel backwards.

Never before had she removed the binds while training.

She looks at Damian. More than anything, she wanted to beat him. At least once, she wanted to hit him. Not just for taunting her every single day since she'd met him. Not just for pushing her down and touching her breasts. No, she wanted to hit him because somewhere along the line, she had come to like him. And she realized he'd always hurt her in some way and never ever respect her if she never landed a hit.

Her eyes narrow in determined anger as she reaches under her shirt and against her back to release the constricting bonds. Her torso takes a womanly shape as she positions herself once more to attack.

As she lunged at him once more, she knew. She knew the hit would connect. It came as no surprise as she raised her right leg in a full kick and felt her foot achieve a speed she'd never achieved before. It came as no surprise as she was able to kick higher than ever before. And, it came as no surprise when, for the first time, her kick connected fully with his torso and sent him flying back, sliding over the gym floor.

She stands over him, the silhouette of a beautiful woman shining in the light of the rising sun.

Damian looks up at her, smiling warmly and genuinely for the first time, none of his mocking nature in sight. He raises his hand towards her for help, moreso initializing a truce than because he needed help getting up. Eron grasps his hand and pulls him up firmly, meeting him face to face when he rises.

Damian pats her head, ruffling her hair.

"I don't know why you have to hide your gender, but whatever it is, I won't stand in your way. I won't tell anyone." He lowers his hand and turns toward the showers, but Eron stops him, grabbing his arm.

He turns back to her, confused.

She looks up at him, shaking slightly, face reddened, eyes closed tightly. "Damian... I... lik-"

She feels his lips gently press against her own. They stay like that a few seconds, then Damian pulls back.

The two stare at one another before Damian speaks. "You've fallen in love for a pretty bad guy, you know."

"I know."

"This doesn't mean I'll stop hurting you."

"I know."

"And you still love me?"

She pauses for a second, taking a breath. "You are rude and obnoxious, devious and you think you are the best thing since sliced bread... but... you're also kind. You've helped me every morning for the last four months without even asking why I needed to become stronger... Every tip you gave me has been exactly what I needed to get better. So... you've taken me seriously... and have really watched me... And..." she wraps her arms around him. "I've watched you... So I know the real you is gentle."

Eron feels Damian stroke her head again. He wraps his arms around her as he kisses her forehead. No one had ever seen past his rough and evil exterior before. After being abandoned by every family member and friend he'd ever known, he felt he would end up being alone, so he always pushed people away.

His mind goes back to his first encounter with the legendary bishounen considered to be the strongest in the school. Truth betold, he hated him from the moment he laid eyes on him. But, he felt himself being drawn in by his unyielding determination. Damian had always been talented in the art of self defense, but this guy had worked for it. Something bigger, something more powerful than anything Damian had ever known was giving the bishounen a courage and determination that shined brighter than the sun.

He holds the warm body of his beloved close, feeling safe for the first time.

Footsteps.

The couple turns to look to the right as a schoolgirl runs in, "We need everyone to-" She stops as she sees the school badboy and idol embracing.

Eron tries to pull away from him as to not ruin his reputation, but Damian pulls her close, whispering, "If you pull away now, she'll see you are a girl."

The schoolgirl quickly shakes off her surprise and continues, "We are under attack from the Demon of the Underworld and Hell's Witch! We need everyone's help until the Mews and Knights get here!"

"Understood!" Damian and Eron yell. As soon as the girl leaves, Damian motions for her to wait there and disappears in the supply closet. Within seconds, he emerges with a hockey mask, placing it on Eron's head.

"What the-"

"You don't want them to find out, do you? And you don't want to be bound too tightly to deal them some massive damage, right?"

Eron nods. "Let's go!"

The two arrive at the scene of a massacre just as devastating as before. The students desperately try to defend one another as Hell's Witch and the Demon of the Underworld tear though each one as if they were paper.

This early in the morning, hardly any students were there, so it doesn't take long for Damian and Eron to be the only ones left. The arrive just as the schoolgirl who called to them meets her demise.

Filled to the brim with anger, the duo rushes in to attack.

Hell's witch smiles as they approach, racing toward Eron as the Demon of the Underworld approaches Damian. Blows are exchanged, back and forth for what feels like forever. This exchange would normally have tired out Eron, but with her extra training with Damian, she was ready for it. With each blow, she feels Hell's Witch turn her power up a notch, as if gauging Eron's level.

Finally, Eron hears a crash to her left, followed by Damian's cry.

Panic runs through Eron as she puts all her strength in one blow, surprising Hell's Witch just enough to make her lose her step. But, this was enough time for Eron to reach Damian. She stands above him just as the blade of the Demon of the Underworld comes down, baring toward her. With unrivaled determination, she meets it with a metal baseball bat, creating a clanging sound that resounds through the empty halls of the school.

Hells Witch approaches them, arms crossed, walking slowly through the dead bodies, all the while staring at Damian.

Damian rises, grabbing his own bat, determined not to fall again.

Hell's Witch smiles.

The Demon of the Underworld raises his sword again, but is stopped by a motion from Hell's Witch. He lowers his sword.

Hell's Witch turns to leave, and the Demon of the Underworld follows closely behind. Within seconds, they were gone, leaving Damian and Eron in the midst of the bodies of their classmates.

Tears stain Eron's cheeks as she kneels caressing the face of her friend from homeroom. "This is why I wanted to get stronger."

Damian kneels next to her, staring at her. "Her goal... it was to fight you."

Eron looks at him, eyes red. "I know! She always stops tormenting everyone when I arrive! Why does she want me! I feel like every student she kills... it's my fault!"

Damian holds her close. "It isn't your fault!"

"Mew Minto... she adopted me, but she won't tell me why I have to hide my gender... I do this, but I don't even know... I don't know what's going on around me anymore," for the first time in her life, she lets herself truly cry. Her loud wails fill the area as she holds onto Damian so tightly her nails scratch his skin.

Damian finds himself filled with regret for every harsh thing he'd ever said or did to her. He holds her tighter. She's already had so much to deal with, and every day, he'd only added more. Never had he hated himself for being like that more than now.

He whispers in her ear, "I'll fight by your side." He kisses her cheek. "I will get stronger, and I'll protect you. I promise you, Eron... you are not alone."

Hours pass, the lifeless bodies are taken away, and school resumes as normal. Everyone in Mew Academy knows not a moment of life should be wasted because at any second, one may be called to use their life to defend what they hold dear. Such is the life they have chosen.

But, one thing has changed. Eron's resolve was now deeper than ever. She had finally seen a glimpse of how to defeat Hell's Witch. Next time would be their final encounter.


	16. Chapter 16

Mew Mansion was built back around the year 2010 or so. It was built to be both a home for all of the Mews and their immediate family, but also as a fortress to keep outsiders away. Nestled in the tallest manmade mountain in Chicago, it almost looked like a castle.

The building itself was completely white, and nestled on a plot of land larger than any of the Mews or Knights, past or present, cared to count. In fact, most of the land had never been treaded by those who lived there. Part of the reason was that if they had tried to, they'd never finish walking it. One could probably spend a year seeing every bit of the forest, lake, plain, mountainous terrain, and who knows what else on the massive Mew estate. And surrounding this impressive estate was a tall white-bricked wall with spikes running along the top, which with its size and strength, was almost as impressive as the estate itself.

For the visitor, Mew Mansion was impossible to navigate alone. From the need to provide a password at the entrance, which changed every hour, to the road maze leading up to the towering castle, which had more turns and dips than a Six Flags rollercoaster, it was an impenetrable castle. Therefore, those who lived there never feared attack. Well, at least from the ground. For this reason, all guards were required to fly, for only flying attackers could ever hope to make it even remotely close.

Mew Mansion was also largely considered a mystery to all who had not lived there. Many of the rooms had curves so slight you'd never noticed if you didn't place a ball on the floor, but the sheer size of the mansion made it so even these curves permitted an endless supply of hidden rooms and secret entrances making the creation of a map rank among the planet's most arduous tasks. In laymen's terms, if you did make it inside, if you wandered in too far, especially if you couldn't fly, you'd easily never make it out again.

Such was the house young Eron grew up in.

Eron sits at her seat at the long table in the center mansion of the Mew castle poking nervously at her food. Beside her sat Damian, whose face seemed calm, but whose hands were shaking like leaves beneath the table. She reaches out towards him and takes his hand in hers, finding it soaked with sweat. She looks up at his face, but he does not return the glance. She follows his gaze exactly where she expected it to go, to the face of Mew Minto, who stares right back to him from the other side of the table as she slowly chews her food. Beside her sits the Indigo Knight, who silently nibbles on a carrot as he sneaks quick glances at his wife every few seconds.

_How did things get like this!_

2 weeks ago

**BAM**

Damian roughly pushes Eron against his locker as their lips meet. Eron opens her mouth to say "ow" after hitting her head on the locker, but Damian takes this chance to insert his tongue, effectively muting her voice. He feels her lips move into a smile as she kisses him back. Her hands move to his cheeks, pulling his face closer to hers as she moves her head a little sideways to try a different angle.

**PLOP**

The two stop and look toward the noise to see a flustered girl struggling to pick up her books.

"Sorry!" She says over and over again as she glances between the couple and her books, turning redder and redder as she drops them several times. She finally gathers them and bows before scurrying away.

Eron sighs and leans back against the locker, the mood destroyed, "Great! Now someone has seen us..."

Damian leans forward, lifting her chin to get better access to her lips and kisses her again gently, "And? I think it's kinda sexy. The school prince and the underclassman bad boy." He starts to shower her with kisses again, but Eron pushes him back.

"And what if Mew Minto finds out!" she looks at him with such a fearful expression it halts all his amorous thoughts. "Remember! She's the one who wanted me to hide my gender! If she finds out I'm dating someone, she'll know you know and-"

"Woah woah woah..." he places his hands on her shoulders. "Come on! What's the worst that can happen? I mean, really..."

"You don't know Mew Minto," Eron cautions, gathering up her bookbag. "You didn't see her when she told me never ever to tell anyone I'm a girl. She was beyond serious, like this is life or death or something. It was the only time I'd ever seen her so scary."

Damian places an arm around Eron and kisses her head. "Maybe I should go see her and introduce myself."

Eron suddenly stops and turns to him, eyes wide, "No! You can't do that!"

"Woah. OK OK. So, what now then."

Eron turns toward the door and starts walking again, "No one is going to believe that you and I are dating. I know that girl and she's known for saying strange things. Not to mention, half the girls in school want to date me. They won't want to believe I'm gay."

Damian sighs.

"Just..." Eron repositions her bookbag, "Don't show me any affection in school."

Damian sighs louder. "Let's see... we train in the morning, so there is no time then... We can't make out at school... You just happen to be related to the Mews, so you have special training when you get home... You have a body guard when you aren't at school or at home... Which leaves... when for us to be a couple exactly?"

Eron pushes open the door and looks up, letting the sunlight bathe her face in hopes it will hide her frustration. "I... don't know..."

Damian grabs her arm and pulls her to face him. "Then what the hell are we dating for?"

Eron's eyes begin to well up. She hated it, but around Damian, she always became more feminine. "This is what it takes to date me!" she yelled out, frustrated.

Damian lets go, "Then maybe I don't want any part of it."

He turns to leave.

Eron wanted to call out to him, but her lips wouldn't form the words. He was right. Maybe she shouldn't try to date anyone. It was better for both of them if they just broke up.

But... somehow her heart really hurt...

That afternoon, Eron returns home and enters the west wing mansion, the mansion owned traditionally by Mew Minto and the Indigo Knight. She places her keys on the kitchen counter, thankful she didn't have to pick up the Mirai no Minto (Future Minto) because she would be staying over night at a friend's. Tonight, she just wanted to watch tv and hit the hay.

She places her bookbag on a chair and heads toward the fridge, but suddenly stops. In the next room, she hears the moans of her adoptive mother and father.

**CRASH**

Eron sighs as she hears the vase on the pedestal next to the couch break... again...

**Creak, creak, creak, creak...**

Slightly livid, she shuts the refrigerator door, no longer thirsty.

_No wonder that couch has been so noisy lately..._

She quickly sets to gathering her things as she races up the stairs, her eyes welling up again. She reaches her room and shuts the door just as she hears the duo scream.

As the door shuts, she leans back on it, her cheeks now stained with tears. She wipes them angrily, but they won't stop. Hearing the two downstairs was like a slap in the face... a brutal reminder that she was now single. She throws her bookbag on the bed and slumps down to the floor.

She had been training with Damian for months now. Maybe she should have gotten mad at him for "testing" her gender. Maybe yelling at him would have made her feel better...

She runs her hands through her short hair, crying harder when her fingers reach the end. She'd always loved long hair. Long, glossy hair with small curls at the end. And skirts. And high heeled boots. And makeup. How many times had she walked over to the makeup counter and wanted to try on some blush.

"I don't want to be a boy..." she whispers under her breath, the tears from her eyes entering her mouth. She sniffles as she tastes the salty liquid, trying to keep her wails down. Never before had she wanted to be a normal girl more than now.

She brings her knees into her chest. They hit her breasts, which causes her to cry harder. She knew her body was what they'd call beautiful. She was well endowed and had soft, smooth, glowing skin. She wanted to see herself in a swimsuit, just once. Just once she wanted to be allowed to swim with everyone else. Just once, she wanted to go shopping and bring back a purse. The simple things girls all over took for granted, she'd do anything to have.

Maybe that's why she wasn't that mad when he touched her breasts. She just wanted someone, anyone to know she was a girl.

"Damian..." she whispers.

The next morning, training was hell. Ever since she had landed that hit on him, they had been training together as equals, and had gained a trust while sparring that enabled each to fight their hardest against the other without worrying one would get hurt, but today, punch after punch had connected and left both covered in bruises.

They both lay on the ground, panting, Eron wiping her bloody lip and Damian icing his shin.

"Heh," Damian starts, breathing heavily, "We've... lost our rhythm."

"You..." Eron responds, "were right."

Damian looks over at her.

Eron reaches over and places a hand on his arm, "I... was afraid..." she begins to catch her breath a bit. "I've never had a boyfriend before... and I treated you like just another part of my schedule. I know now that this is something I have to fight for... that I want to fight for."

He places his hand on top of hers, grasping it gently.

"And if that means you meeting Mew Minto, that's how things must happen," Eron sits up. "Just... I'm really scared of what she might do to you. But hiding you and then not getting to spend time with you isn't the answer either..."

Damian smiles, "I'll meet your mom. And," he grins, "I'll be on my best behavior." He scoots over toward Eron and kisses her on the cheek once, then on the nose, then on the mouth.

Eron gives him a look, "Knowing you, you'd better be on your extra best behavior!" She starts to push him away, "I'm all stinky and sweaty!"

"Do you not know how sexy that is? I totally want you right now." He continues to shower her with kisses.

Eron pokes him, "Come on! Class is going to start in 20 minutes! We have to get showered and into our uniforms!"

He lets go of her, "Alright..." But, you owe me, ok?

Eron stands up, "I owe you?"

Damian rises slowly, "Yep. A makeout session. Your bed. Maybe more."

Eron pokes him again, "Ha... you wish!" She quickly turns away to hide her face as it reddens.

"Think about it!" Damian calls out.

That was exactly what Eron was doing.

"Just..." Eron calls back, "Be at my house for dinner tomorrow night at 6!"

"K"

Eron runs off to the showers, her heart beating faster than ever before.


End file.
